This week, the peer-reviewed journal Family Practice Management published my article, Incivility in Health Care: Strategies for De-escalating Troubling Encounters. The timely article has stirred up a much-needed conversation about what it’s like to practice medicine in environments we don’t trust, whether from a rise in threatening or toxic behaviors, unsafe settings, and/or unresponsive leadership. […]
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Phew! It’s been a very full time since the publication of my 4th book, Recapturing Joy in Medicine. It’s also been fun and so meaningful, since I’ve had the opportunity to speak to my colleagues in various settings. Here’s an abridged summary of what I’ve been up to these last two months, some of what’s […]
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Today, an excerpt from my latest book, Recapturing Joy in Medicine, was published on KevinMD.com. The excerpt is from chapter 4, which is titled “Leading from Full Hearts.” In this chapter, I share personal stories that highlight the importance of investing in yourself throughout your training and career, not only as a leader but especially […]
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Some years ago, I traveled to Washington DC for a weekend of advocacy that turned out to be pivotal in my work for physicians and patients. Expecting to learn mostly by watching others, we spent several days learning from one another until the opportunity came to make a difference with policymakers right then. For several […]
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Many physicians are exploring alternatives to the frustrating status quo in healthcare, with so many middlemen, inefficiencies, and regulatory burdens. Direct primary care (DPC) has emerged as an attractive model for physicians wanting more face-to-face time with patients, greater autonomy, and more meaning in medicine. Beyond these tremendous benefits, it turns out DPC practices are […]
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Relax, Learn, and Enjoy the Sunshine! Join me and our colleagues next month, May 3-5, 2019, at the upcoming Family Medicine Spring Forum in Orlando, FL. I’ll provide a main stage presentation for physicians, residents, and medical students and discuss tested strategies that contribute to physician wellness and effectiveness. You will also learn how to […]
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From the Beach to the Desert! You thought that said dessert … no worries! I’m sure we’ll have a bit of dessert along with plenty of learning and fun this summer in Phoenix, Arizona. Join us for the 2nd ever Family Physician Health & Well-being Conference coming up June 5-8, 2019. I cannot wait to […]
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“You’re Not Alone, Doc!” That is the message I want to help spread, especially to medical students, residents, and young physicians who are new to our challenging yet deeply rewarding profession. Over twenty-five years in medicine, I’ve learned the importance of community. Physician isolation is more common than it used to be, and grassroots organizations […]
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From the Beach to the Desert to San Antonio’s River Walk! Are you a physician in need of inspiration, fellowship, and some R&R? Are you looking for a meaningful conference that won’t stress you out but will leave you rested and refreshed? I know what you’re thinking … this is obviously not a physician conference. […]
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Last month, I wrote about my colleague and friend, Dr. Katherine Gantz Pannel, whose love and concern for her patients led her to start Crocheting for a Cause. The movement began with a simple idea to bless her patients with dementia who struggle with anxiety. This makes them fidgety, and she noticed they appear to […]
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I have spent the last decade, and especially the last five years, teaching about the state of healthcare in our country. In particular, I raise awareness about how the busine$$ of healthcare is dismantling the noble profession of medicine and attempting to destroy the central patient-physician relationship that drew physicians to medical school in the […]
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What a joy it was to travel to Minnesota last week to make new friends, learn from fellow experts in wellness and burnout prevention, and provide the closing keynote at a physician wellness conference! It was lovely to be greeted by the daughter of a physician friend from Florida. She drove me around breathtaking landscapes, […]
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I am thrilled to be traveling to Minnesota the first week of December. Yes, you read that right; it will be awesome to visit Minnesota this winter! I used to live in Wisconsin and have wonderful memories of driving to Minnesota to visit the Mall of America, one of our children’s favorite destinations at the […]
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This week, I had the heartwarming opportunity to speak with pre-health students at Florida Southern College. It was so inspiring to hear their enthusiasm for pursuing a career spent helping others. Their questions were insightful and their curiosity, refreshing. As usual, I painted an accurate picture of what medicine is like in 2019 while imparting […]
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Last week, I had the privilege of speaking as a panelist at A&M College of Law. At this year’s Women’s Law Caucus Annual Legal Tea (I just love that name!), we spoke about wellness, mental health, and ways to avoid burnout in highly demanding careers like Medicine and Law. Our moderator, Professor Broussard, shared her […]
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This week, the Florida Medical Association published my article, The Power of Physician Advocacy. It is an excerpt from my latest book in which I share some of my story as an outspoken advocate for patients, high standards of medical care, patient safety, and physicians. Medicine is increasingly complex, and physicians need more support than […]
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July 1st is a deeply meaningful day for physicians in the United States. Today is the day when new physicians embark on a long and demanding journey to become specialized within a field of medicine, a process that takes years and thousands of hours of supervised, hands-on clinical training. Although physicians know the road is […]
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Leave your pride, ego, and narcissism somewhere else. Reactions from those parts of you will reinforce your children’s most primitive fears. (Henry Cloud) The above quote by the co-author of the Boundaries series was written in the context of parenting, but its message applies to all relationships. Like children, adults react negatively to pride, ego, […]
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What a weekend! I spent most of it with physician colleagues, reconnecting with old friends, making new ones, and sharing strategies and pearls about leadership and physician wellness from the main stage. I also enjoyed the opportunity to address residency program coordinators and had the unexpected blessing of reconnecting with someone from residency I hadn’t […]
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Last month, I wrote about my colleague and friend, Dr. Katherine Gantz Pannel, whose love and concern for her patients led her to start Crocheting for a Cause. The movement began with a simple idea to bless her patients with dementia who struggle with anxiety. This makes them fidgety, and she noticed they appear to […]
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As a new year approaches, I like to end the year with intention by giving thanks and counting my many blessings from 2019. As always, the richest blessings involve people, and this year brought me new friends as well as deepening of special friendships. I am so grateful. Top 10 Blessings from 2019 Our oldest […]
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I have spent the last decade, and especially the last five years, teaching about the state of healthcare in our country. In particular, I raise awareness about how the busine$$ of healthcare is dismantling the noble profession of medicine and attempting to destroy the central patient-physician relationship that drew physicians to medical school in the […]
Read More
What a joy it was to travel to Minnesota last week to make new friends, learn from fellow experts in wellness and burnout prevention, and provide the closing keynote at a physician wellness conference! It was lovely to be greeted by the daughter of a physician friend from Florida. She drove me around breathtaking landscapes, […]
Read More
This week, I had the heartwarming opportunity to speak with pre-health students at Florida Southern College. It was so inspiring to hear their enthusiasm for pursuing a career spent helping others. Their questions were insightful and their curiosity, refreshing. As usual, I painted an accurate picture of what medicine is like in 2019 while imparting […]
Read More
MEDICAL STUDENTS, RESIDENTS, FELLOWS, ATTENDINGS, FACULTY MEMBERS, and EVERY PHYSICIAN in PRACTICE: THIS IS FOR YOU! My latest book, Recapturing Joy in Medicine, is NOW AVAILABLE!!! It’s been a tremendous privilege to research, write, and work on this project for years, including pursuing further training (beyond being a Board-certified family physician) as a health and […]
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In the May-June issue of Family Practice Management, one of the poems included in my latest book, Recapturing Joy in Medicine, was published. I am thrilled this poem has resonated with thousands of physicians across the country. I was inspired to write it after becoming a patient and experiencing the “other side” of healthcare. Like […]
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