There was recently a post on kevinmd.com about physician suicide which included a video. Found here It’s somewhat of an exaggeration about the constant stressors a physician (a hospitalist in this case) has to face in his/her daily life… however, not by much. If you google search “Physician Suicide” the top 3 results are: A Medscape Article – Updated: Jul 09, 2015 A Daily Beast Article – Posted 03.22.15 11:25 PM ET A New York Times Article – Posted SEPT. 4, 2014 […]
Medicine
“Time of death, 11:56 pm” It was a Tuesday, my first Tuesday of night float actually. However, on that Tuesday I would forever be remembered as “Mrs. Smith’s last doctor” to her family. And on that Tuesday it will forever be the first time I had to pronounce the death of a patient, by myself, as a doctor. Like I said, it was Tuesday. I just started night-float on Sunday night, so this was my 3rd night of […]
Time of Death
This is a question I get asked a lot, from both my friends and colleagues. In fact, I ask myself this question a lot as well. The expanded question is: If you could do it over again, would you be a doctor again? This is somewhat of a loaded question because, when asked by another physician, it somewhat infers that they probably would not. I think some of my colleagues are seeking validation of their own […]
Would you do it again?
You’ve made it! You’ve slogged through the internship, residency and maybe even a fellowship to be the top dog. Numero uno. The alpha and omega. You are now an attending. The buck stops with you. All responsibility lies with you. Everyone comes to you for answers. You make all the big decisions. Are you ready? Of course not. Just a few days or weeks ago you were finishing your training, still leaning on your own […]
How to be a Good Attending (Academic Edition)
So you’ve gone through your core clinical rotations as a 3rd year and now you need to think about choosing a specialty. You’ve done some rotations in the specialties you thought you might have liked, and they were.. ok. Perhaps you’ve even done the medical specialty aptitude test or something similar. None of that matters. You need to do some heavy introspection before you choose your specialty, and no one can tell you what fits you… […]
Choosing a Specialty
PRIORITIES – PART THREE: THE REBUTTAL Like I said, I don’t expect you to live in squalor nor do I think you should sacrifice your safety for financial benefit. Also, trust me; I do understand that you are no longer a college student and that having a roommate might be unacceptable to some. I also understand that after a long day of work being able to retire to the solitude of your “castle” has its […]