Meet Damien, my Facebook friend, photographer, and IT guy.
This morning, he messages me: “I would like to make an appointment.”
I reply: “For?”
“High blood pressure :(.”
I offer to see him,
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Blog Archives
Surprise! It’s Patient Appreciation Day →
On random Fridays, clients are showered with extra affection to celebrate “Patient Appreciation Day.” I surprise the unsuspecting visitors with dark-chocolate hearts and Mylar heart-shaped balloons as they enter the office. This is in addition to the gifts many receive for meeting their health goals.
Sitting on the couch next to her balloon,
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Should You Be Intimate with Your Doctor? →
A new patient calls for an appointment. I ask, “What would you like to come in for?”
“Depression. Two weeks ago my doctor put me on antidepressants.”
“Why don’t you see your current doctor?” I ask.
“I feel weird discussing my emotions with someone who doesn’t have any.”
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Tags: doctors, health care, ideal medical care, Intimacy, medicine, pamela wible, patients
How to Eat a Triple Bacon Cheeseburger with Your Doctor →
Joe just had open-heart surgery. A triple bypass. When he left the hospital last month, he promised he’d follow a healthy diet and quit smoking for good. I call to review his cholesterol results. He picks up on the second ring.
“Hold on a minute,” he says.
The reception is poor,
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How to Smoke a Cigarette with Your Doctor →
Joe has smoked two packs per day since his teens. He knows better. I don’t need to lecture him on the dangers of smoking.
“I was a respiratory therapist back in Brooklyn,” Joe says in his thick New York accent.
“And you smoked?”
“Yep.
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Why I Kiss My Patients →
I started kissing patients in med school. And I haven’t stopped.
During my third year pediatric rotation, I used to stay up late at night in the hospital, holding sick and dying children. I’d lift them from their cribs, kiss them, and sing to them, rocking them back and forth until they fell asleep.
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The Life of a Miscarriage →
Last week a woman told me that she had a miscarriage in her bathroom. She was terrified. She didn’t know what to do. So she flushed it down the toilet.
A miscarriage is the spontaneous expulsion of a fetus from the womb before it is able to survive on its own.
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The Ideal Medical Care Movement Sweeps America →
More and more doctors are leaving jobs they hate and opening ideal clinics.
It’s a national trend.
Now there are hundreds of ideal clinics nationwide. Find one near you on this map. Meet some of the most innovative doctors in the country in these news stories.
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Interview with Dr. Pamela Wible: Pioneer of Community-Designed Health Care →
Dr Pamela Wible has been described as medicine’s Martin Luther King. Born into a family of physicians, her parents warned her not to pursue medicine. She followed her heart only to discover that to heal her patients she had to first heal her profession. So she led a series of town hall meetings inviting citizens to design the clinic of their dreams.
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Why Health Care Lacks Love →
I am a woman doctor, but I inherited a patriarchal medical model. A patriarchal medical model rewards male values.
MALE VALUES:
- Speed
- Volume
- Bigness
- Toughness
- Graphs
- Charts
- Algorithms
- Proof
- Strength
- Fighting
- War metaphors
But I am a woman doctor.
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Tags: health care, ideal medical care, love, pamela wible
My Love Affair with Medical Waste →
I’m an obsessive-compulsive collector. So is my dad.
Raised in a morgue, I worked alongside Dad, the city medical examiner. Over fifty years, he amassed a huge collection of medical artifacts. My siblings don’t want any of it. So now I’m the curator of the collection.
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Yes, Men Need Pap Smears Too! →
Go ahead and laugh, but it’s true. Men get Pap smears too.
Not all men. Just high-risk men who have sex with men.
The female Pap smear is a screening test for cervical cancer, which is a sexually-induced cancer caused by the Human Papillomavirus. The Human Papillomavirus is also easily transmitted to the anus in men who have sex with men.
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Love Is Medicine →
It’s Valentine’s Day 1997. I’m at Sacred Heart Hospital admitting a colleague’s patient—an elderly man dying of heart disease. On oxygen, gasping for life, he exchanges no words. His wife—unable to bear the pain of watching him die—leaves the room. So it’s just the two of us this Valentine’s Eve.
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Tribute to a Cowboy Doctor →
After two decades of formal education, today I’m finally set loose with real patients. It’s the actual moment I’ve been waiting for my entire life.
We’re each assigned to a family doc for the month. I scroll down the list of third-year medical students, place my right index finger beside my name,
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A Tale of Two Testicles →
Evan, a retired police officer, calls for an urgent appointment. I can hear the angst in his voice.
“Sure Evan, come right over.”
An hour later, he arrives in obvious distress. “I gotta show you something, Doc.” We proceed to the exam room. He pulls his pants down and points to his left testicle.
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