Videos

July 9, 2020

Infection control lessons that we have learned so far

"We are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s already very clear that the infection prevention community in the U.S. has never faced such an enormous challenge. We have learned many things that will make us better prepared for the long term. We are far too reliant on…

View more
July 9, 2020

The power of story and other essential physician speaking tips

"People remember stories in your speech. The rest fades away. I learned that pearl of wisdom from studying great literature and telling personal stories, and now teach it to students of speech. Who can forget the stories of The Iliad and The Odyssey having once read the books or heard…

View more
July 9, 2020

How to handle family and parenting stress as a physician

"Being a parent in the middle of a pandemic is not easy. Sheltering in place with canceled daycare, school, and college, while also being a doctor or other healthcare worker, working in high-risk, high-intensity situations, presents many challenges. It also presents many opportunities. It is possible to choose thoughts about…

View more
July 9, 2020

Real estate investing for physicians

"Many physicians are looking for alternative sources of income and are looking for ways to diversify their investment portfolio from the volatility of the stock market. Some have heard of real estate syndications, but what exactly is a syndication? For those who have not heard of it, real estate syndications…

View more
July 9, 2020

A medical educator shares his love for medicine

"Each patient I have seen over these four decades has made me a better doctor. Books do not impact long term memory the way a real patient can. I once heard the chair of medicine at a teaching hospital say that the worst thing about being on call every other…

View more
July 2, 2020

A psychiatrist explores the mental health of physicians

"We know that the past two months haven’t been easy. We know about the sleepless nights, anger, tears, depression, and anxiety. We know all of this because we know what trauma does to a person, and you are in the middle of experiencing a repeated trauma. The trauma of watching…

View more
July 2, 2020

Strategies to foster meaningful connection during telemedicine visits

"The COVID-19 pandemic has upended health care, with telemedicine emerging as a strategy to reduce risk exposures for patients and clinicians. Video visits, in particular, can be effective for many types of clinical care and offer convenience and savings for patients. As care shifts to this virtual modality, however, there…

View more
July 1, 2020

What we can learn from a palliative care chaplain

"Faced with the prospect of not being able to provide all COVID-19 patients with the life support that they may need, physicians and nurses are working in conditions that have been described as 'hell.' How are providers to cope with the trauma they are experiencing in New York and Italy,…

View more
July 1, 2020

The physician who treats depressed, anxious, and suicidal teens

"After almost 30 years in this profession, I have come to the conclusion that there is some truth to that, as no day or week passes that I do not have a depressed, anxious or suicidal teen on my 'to see list.' Could it be my own personal history of…

View more
July 1, 2020

The medical basis of vampires and other medical myths

"Where did the myth of vampires come from? Like many myths, it is based partly in fact. A blood disorder called porphyria, which has has been with us for millennia, became prevalent among the nobility and royalty of Eastern Europe. A genetic disorder, it becomes more common with inbreeding. Porphyria…

View more
June 30, 2020

The guilt of physician-moms

"As women physicians, especially physician moms and women physicians of color, we have handled and achieved more than the vast majority of the population, in order to reach our current status of physician. We do because we can. We are Superwomen. Until we’re not. Without thought, we take on others’…

View more
June 30, 2020

The current state and future of psychiatry

What are the challenges facing psychiatry? How does psychiatry need to innovate the continue to thrive? What is the future of psychiatry What's your #1 tip for those considering the profession? What advice can you give to primary care clinicians as it relates to behavioral health issues? Owen Muir is…

View more
June 30, 2020

The view from an infectious disease physician in Texas

"Death is not meant to be rushed. Saying goodbye shouldn’t be rushed. Celebrating a life once lived cannot be rushed. And yet, we must. Taking a moment, a minute, an hour, maybe a day to feel something that normally takes far longer. Because we must. And in our hearts, the…

View more
June 30, 2020

A public health update on COVID-19

"Over the last 100 years, the U.S. has had to respond to five avian flu pandemics. The most severe was the 1918 avian influenza infecting 1/3 of the world’s population and killing 650,000 Americans. It was also the last time wide-spread containment, mitigation, and isolation strategies were used in the…

View more
June 29, 2020

Pandemic behavioral health tips from a psychiatrist

"The unparalleled and pervasive nature of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic has touched all of us in some way. There is limited, albeit growing, research on the mental health effects of disasters. A recent review article pointed out the potentially negative consequences of prolonged quarantine, while other research from Wuhan, China,…

View more
June 26, 2020

This is a time for national unity, not sensationalism

"Recent articles have accused some physicians of hoarding medications for themselves during our international medical crisis. Authors such as these should be ashamed of their coverage and wasted ability on sensationalism when they could be spending their time informing the public about the dangers of COVID-19 and the actions communities,…

View more
June 26, 2020

Spare older anesthesiologists COVID-19 coronavirus risk

"This pandemic presents a unique opportunity for senior anesthesiologists to see the benefit of accommodating the health care needs of our workforce. Just as I tried to avoid the teratogenic effects of certain cases when pregnant, we should consider the most effective ways to protect senior anesthesiologists from a life-threatening…

View more
June 24, 2020

How writing inspires this physician

"Being present is a wonderful thing. It relieves stress caused by focusing on failures of the past and worries of the future. Both realms are unreachable, largely unchangeable. But at the same time, they both entice and tease our minds such that we often find ourselves everywhere, but at the…

View more
June 24, 2020

Marriage and parenting tips in the year 2020

"Recently, I realized that something needed to change in my family life. With three busy daughters at three different schools who participate in multiple activities along with my full-time job as an anesthesiologist, my life depended on accurate and concise communication. However, this was the third time in a week…

View more
June 24, 2020

Telemedicine pitfalls and direct primary care in the year 2020

"All too often, physicians and other health care providers have tried to do the right things for our patients to ultimately have had our hand slapped. So pause for a second, get the questions answered, know what future implications are for today’s actions. Make the right choice for your patient,…

View more
June 22, 2020

What’s to blame for the obesity epidemic?

"Obesity is a topic that literally hits home for me. For the past two years, the website WalletHub has voted the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission TX metroplex as the 'fattest city in America.' As a health care provider, this is deeply disturbing because it puts my community at high risk for a wide…

View more
June 22, 2020

In these times of crisis, remember the Golden Rule

"We are in the midst of a crisis in humanity. While we are still dealing with COVID pandemic and its deleterious health, economic and societal consequences, our troubling past of racism and inequality is rearing its ugly head. The senseless killings at the hands of police, the shameful subjugation of…

View more
June 22, 2020

How a physician finds laughter during this dark time

"With my passion for writing and connecting digitally with others in health care and the general public, this ‘downtime’ has allowed for an expansion of these interests. I’ve begun recording on my podcast, a multidisciplinary conversation between women who thrive in fields that traditionally they haven’t thought to be able…

View more
June 20, 2020

Why physicians need to diversify their incomes

"Physicians have struggled and sacrificed to develop the clinical judgment and skill needed to provide competent clinical care. They have undergone over a decade of schooling and training, taken on excessive student loan debt, worked backbreaking hours for low pay during residency, and risked their lives during the process. Yet…

View more