The details have been changed, but the story is true. A physician I know goes to work each day by 7:30 a.m. He is a confident, competent leader in every way within his clinic. But each night, he goes home to a spouse who is losing steam in every way. D…
My 13-year-old daughter was writhing on the floor from pain in her back and belly, a fever, and intermittent chest pains. She was two days out from a spine surgery intended to fix an 8-month-old gymnastics injury. She couldn’t take any steps on h…
An excerpt from PLAYING DOCTOR – Part One: Medical School: Stumbling through with amnesia. As was her habit, she [the surgical chief resident] had called to check in with a surgical nurse to see how each of her patients was doing. They were discu…
The most memorable books have twists, turns, and surprises. A plot twist is a literary technique involving a radical change in an expected outcome. It involves withholding critical information until the time is right, changing our perception of precedi…
Recently, I had a patient die unexpectedly in the operating room. I consider myself mentally tough, but this was the first time I’d ever experienced a situation like this, and the impact on me was far greater than I would have anticipated. On its…
My respected neurosurgery colleague just ended his career inauspiciously — having had an affair with a resident. While I don’t know the details, I do know that many a male leader, like my friend, has fallen from his perch due to “zipper malfunction.” H…
One of the most dramatic changes from my training to the present is the nearly complete disappearance of elective ulcer surgery. (Reminder: as I’ve said before, “elective” means non-emergent, as opposed to unnecessary.) The revolution…
Most patients believe and trust a diagnosis and treatment plan their physician provides them. So why is a second opinion in medicine so important? The “practice of medicine” is a term used to imply a variety of diagnoses and treatments. Yes…
“My practice consisted of patients who suffered from serious injuries and illnesses. Concerning the latter, a significant number had cancer, especially breast cancer. The issue all patient groups have in common to a certain degree is protein calo…
It was a hot afternoon, but no dog day humidity yet. I was driving back from a satellite office when our nurse practitioner called. A patient with a condition we’d seen many times before, a brain hemorrhage, her consciousness waning. The CT scan showed…
