“It is our stories that make us human.” In medical school, I learned all the technical details about heart transplant. I studied the medical criteria that makes you a candidate, the drugs required post-transplant, and the labs and physical symptoms to monitor. Yet, what I did not yet learn were the stories. Those stories came …Read More
Category: Physician
Physician Meeting: Who’s in Charge?
At a recent physician meeting, the doctors in the multi-specialty group were deciding on how to split the profits and who should lead the group. The neurologist said, I take care of the brain. Without the brain, nothing would happen. Clearly, I am the most important and should be paid more. The hematologist said, I …Read More
Permission to Leave
“Doc, he’s gone.” Working as a hospitalist, I had a list of patients to see for the week. This was my first day back at the hospital, and so all the patients were new. Joe was on hospice care. The hospice facility was full. From the medical record, I could see that he was comatose. …Read More
#12: Home Funeral (Dennis Shuman)
“Is that even legal?” That was my first thought. In this interview, Dennis Shuman tells us how to care for our own dead at home. As a volunteer with the organization, Final Friends, he gives workshops on the history and legal details of home funeral. You might be wondering what home funeral has to do with …Read More
Episode 10: Preventing Physician Burnout (Dr. Paul Jones, MD)
Interview Series by Dr. Joel Ying. “People of passion and purpose, doing interesting things, living their present moment.” LivingthePresentMoment.com/podcastshow Dr. Paul Jones is a Family Practice physician in Naples, Florida, and currently the President of the Medical Staff at Naples Community Hospital (NCH). He continues to work in both the office and hospital caring for his patients. …Read More
Mindfulness in Medicine, mindfulness for everyone
“I believe that the practice of medicine depends on a deep understanding between clinicians and patients, and that human understanding starts with understanding oneself.” ~ Ronald Epstein, M.D., Attending: Medicine, Mindfulness, and Humanity Occasionally, I enjoy walking through bookstores in the same way that I enjoy walking in botanical gardens. I slow down, sink into …Read More
Munchausen Syndrome
The saddest diseases that I have encountered in my medical career are those of the mind. Lori (not her real name) came into the hospital with persistent fevers. She had multiple admissions. Blood cultures were positive for multiple types of bacteria. Where was this infection coming from? She improved on broad spectrum antibiotics that covered …Read More
The Body Bag
I saw him slink out of the room and make his way down the hall. His face turned to the wall in an effort to hold back his emotions. He walked in that way that we all do when we don’t want anyone to see us, that telling way of hiding our tears that seems …Read More
Organ Donor, Organ Harvest
In medical school, I had the opportunity to observe a “Harvest.” I had observed many surgical operations, but never this procedure. The young man had been in a motorcycle accident, and the tests showed that he was brain-dead. He was an organ donor, his family consented, and now an organ harvest was scheduled. I walked …Read More