When my now ex-husband and I first met, he asked me about my favorite things to do. At that time, I did not have a ready answer. It was my third year of general surgery residency, a time for proving that I could handle it all: being the in-house senior…
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! In this episode, Yael Dreznik, a pediatric surgeon and author of the book Twenty-Six, shares her personal story and insights into the life of a surgeon. From the early morning rituals to th…
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! In this episode, we speak with Michael Bronson, an anesthesiologist, founder and CEO of AnesthesiaGo, about his journey into healthcare entrepreneurship. Michael discusses the pain points h…
I was waiting for my son at the ice rink in one of Chicago’s northern suburbs. Hundreds of people had gathered to watch the Illinois State Championship games. A parent, who knew I was an anesthesiologist, grabbed me by the elbow and said, “…
Last week I walked past him sitting outside of the OR. It was morning, before all of the first start cases, but he had been there all night. I already knew this. Two back-to-back transplants overnight. He, a surgical fellow, me, a critical care anesthe…
I am naturally a problem solver, and I share this characteristic with most of my fellow physicians. When I felt burned out at one point in my career, I was certain that a literature search would help me solve the problem by giving me answers I could us…
An excerpt from Twenty-Six. 5 a.m. “Reminder to everyone, morning round at 6, lots of new patients,” flashes a message from Puta on the residents’ WhatsApp group. It’s dawn, and the first rays of sunlight illuminate the corner o…
I saw a patient recently with a new brain tumor. She came with an internet search that suggested she had five years to live. I cannot beat that predictive confidence. The best I could do was to poke holes in the assumptions that servers and algorithms …
At one point, many of us will ask the questions, “Am I going to die? Am I safe? Who can I count on? It could be as you face your mortality or find yourself in a dangerous situation. Or, as it has been for many frontline health care professionals …
Every day, in my job as an anesthesiologist, I am called upon to manage conflict. Sometimes, it’s between two members of my team, sometimes it’s between coworkers, and many times it is a conflict I may have with my own co-worker or peer. Wh…
