I Wish I Had Known: Connecting with the Patient
There is one particular “pearl” I’ve learned throughout my career, which in my opinion is one of the most important elements of the doctor/patient relationship: the human touch.
Sometimes, this can include the physical “laying of hands” onto a patient as part of an encounter. But in all cases, it means connecting with the patient in a heartfelt, professional and friendly way. Patients w …
There is one particular “pearl” I’ve learned throughout my career, which in my opinion is one of the most important elements of the doctor/patient relationship: the human touch.
Sometimes, this can include the physical “laying of hands” onto a patient as part of an encounter. But in all cases, it means connecting with the patient in a heartfelt, professional and friendly way. Patients w … Continue reading "I Wish I Had Known: Connecting with the Patient"
Graduating from residency is super exciting, but is also anxiety-provoking as you need to find your first "real" job.
The first aspect to think about when tackling this overwhelming idea is the type of environment in which you’d like to work. At first glance, it seems like a relatively straightforward decision: academics or private practice. However, there is much more to it as you need to al … 
The completion of a residency program represents the culmination of well more than a decade of arduous and even tortuous intellectual, physical and emotional effort. You have finally earned and can safely experience that long-awaited sigh of relief. You made it. The demands, commands, obstacles, grades, ratings, competency logs and grandiose attending physicians are behind you. You are finally lib … 
We go through many, many years of training and hard work to become physicians and to specialize in the field of our choice.
When I graduated from residency, I gave a lot of thought to the kind of practice I wanted to have or in which I wanted to participate. I decided to open my own practice so I would have full control and be my own boss, as my physician father had taught me should be true for a … 
When I first started my practice I had no idea how diplomatic I would have to be when working with staff issues.
Initially, I made many mistakes that translated to ruffled feathers. And a few staff members who left earlier than they should have.
While I can’t say that I always say or do the right things when staff-related issues occur, I have a much better working relationship with all my st … 