Today the ACGME (Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education) made the reckless decision to increase work hours to 28-hour shifts for new doctors. Here are the catastrophic consequences of their decision. Here are actual quotes from physicians (de-identified with some patient details changed to protect confidentiality):
“I did my internship in internal medicine and residency in neurology before laws existed to regulate resident hours.
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For all of you hard-core docs who put everyone’s needs ahead of your own.
For all the docs forgetting to eat or drink all day then fainting in operating rooms.
For all my sisters working through miscarriages without taking time off to grieve.
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Dear Dr. Wible,
I want to fill you in on what really goes on behind the scenes at my medical school and maybe you can help inform other students about what happens here before they make a huge mistake. If students slip between the cracks of a US med school,
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I recently reported on a doctor-turned-dog-walker who says with her career switch she’ll enjoy more happiness—and income! In her own words:
Dear Pamela, Today I realized that if I become a dog walker and charge $25/hour and walk 5 dogs per day I would make my equivalent salary with a lot less hassles.
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A few months ago, I got this invitation from the director of graduate medical education:
We have 115 residents and no meaningful wellness program to speak of. My goal is to create not only a resident but also a faculty wellness program. To help jumpstart the endeavor,
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Most physicians appear self-assured. Yet even doctors have self-doubts. But who wants an insecure physician? A confident doctor inspires confidence in patients. So how do physicians cope with their hidden insecurities?
I actually had no idea that doctors lacked self-confidence until twelve years ago when I began teaching physician business strategies to succeed in independent practice.
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Last week I spoke at a residency retreat. A surgery resident asked for my big take-home message. Here it is (and this applies to everyone on the planet not just medical students and physicians).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIvumvFDyWw
Remember the dreams you had as a young adult.
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I’m a fan of putting the end-user in charge. It’s an winning strategy all around. As an entrepreneur and community organizer at heart, I love bringing people together to create innovative solutions for their problems. Download MP3 and/or listen here to how it’s done (& how you can use this in your own life):
When I left assembly-line medicine in 2005,
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I’m adopting 17 people in 2017. Revolutionary people in medicine. People who want to heal the world and make a big difference with a project, a dream, an idea. Are you one of the 17?
I’m open to anyone who feels called to this project (special preference given to premed &
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Alexandra Friedman has been awarded $10,000 as the recipient of the 2017 Judith Wible, M.D., Scholarship for Visionary Women in Medicine. She is a first-year medical student at Touro Osteopathic Medical School in New York.
In her own words . . .
Why do you want to become a physician?
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Pamela,
I just lost my study partner this morning to cancer. I love him too much to share everything he went through publicly. Maybe he can live on through your blog.
He was diagnosed with cancer last summer. Had a softball-size tumor taken out of his lung,
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Dear Pamela,
Let me start off by telling you that I am a warrior, a protector, and a healer. I am an Army Veteran. I’ve worked as an EMT, completed a bachelors degree and 2 years of medical school, plus I’m raising a family. I’ve achieved amazing things,
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Dear Dr. Wible,
So I just walked out of clinic today and I have to tell you I feel awful. Just awful. I was so excited to work at this particular clinic and now having seen how we went through patients like they were scraps to be tossed out,
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Doctor revived after suicide. Here's what he says.
