My family and I usually go on a trip this time of year. I’ll take anywhere from 7-10 days off work and we head down to the beach to eat ice cream cones, build sandcastles and rest our eyes in an AirBnB where I don’t have to make the beds. This year, it may or…
Last month, Divya Chhabra wrote an article for Huffpost calling out the mistreatment of medical residents during Covid-19 and beyond. I read the whole piece nodding my head and thinking (sometimes out loud), “Yep, yup, mhm.” The problems Chhabra is pointing out aren’t new. The more people I talk to, the more I see how…
As physicians, when we continually work and give of ourselves from a place of obligation and burnout, we will never be our best. We may even actually be our worst. That’s not fair to ourselves, and frankly, it’s not fair to our patients, colleagues, families, or anyone else who receives a second-rate version of us…
I’m a STEM gal through and through, give me facts and figures. But let’s get real…actual clinical practice isn’t straightforward like the multiple choice questions we cut our teeth on during medical school. Same goes for physician wellness knowing the numbers shows the severity of the problem without giving any type of actual solution. Understanding…
Things are opening up again. I’m not taking out my confetti just yet – at this point, we’re peaking out of the bomb shelter without knowing if the surge is really over. But it does feel like we’re over a hump in a lot of ways. The frantic energy of late March and early April…
If all you’ve been posting during the quarantine are “it’s wine-o-clock somewhere” memes, I’m gonna ask you a question: Are you enjoying yourself? That may be a hard question to sit with and it’s important that you do. Allow yourself to process how you’re feeling. Defensive? Surprised? Scared? I’m not here to diagnose or judge…
Recently meeting with a group of first year residents, we got on the topic of “how do we just sit with all the uncertainty right now?” We met in the new normal – instead of circling up in the conference room- the residents popped up one by one on my computer screen in the Brady…
A few weeks ago, I got an unexpected Facebook message from a fellow mom. She’d seen me struggling in the checkout line. I had stopped by the dollar store to grab milk with three grumpy kidlets in tow. I want to share what she wrote because we need more of this in the world, now…
Email shouting, “Danger! Danger! Danger!” Social media yelling, “Disaster! Disaster! Disaster!” Bystanders frightened saying, “What is going to happen?” While I’m standing here, exhausted sighing, “W.T.F.” I have no other words today but to just encourage you to not ignore one of the best tools that we have in medicine. it’s not another fancy gadget,…
If you’re still questioning why we need Women’s Day, I’ve got some news for you: your privilege is hanging out and you can’t see it. Privilege comes in a lot of shapes and sizes and it’s not always about having extra. Having buttloads of money and resources are obvious advantages, but oftentimes privilege is more…