How I used my voice to make a difference at my school

I believe that as much as we are taught about path/pharm/micro and disease processes and how to work up different patient complaints, our medical education should also include discussions about unconscious bias and how it plays a role in our medical decision making. We all have biases that cause us to automatically think a certain way about a patient the second we walk through the door, and if we don’t recognize them, they can limit or alter the options we offer to our patients. We may also slip and say the wrong things to our patients (microagressions). Our biases can … Continue reading How I used my voice to make a difference at my school

Feature article on Doximity

I’m kind of cheating this week because I just don’t have time to form thoughts about anything outside of internal medicine. I’m 2 weeks away from my shelf exam and digging deep to give everything I have to keep working hard and studying while pulling 12 hour shifts every 3 days. Working through weekends for 8 weeks is taking a toll on me and it’s getting harder to be all-in for my patients when this exam is looming over me. So with that being said, I’m featuring some parts of a Doximity feature I wrote a while back that will … Continue reading Feature article on Doximity

Update: Life on internal medicine

My internal medicine rotation is off to a pretty good start! I’m 2 weeks in now. I’m working at our VA hospital taking care of patients with complicated past medical histories. All of the patients that our team has taken on since I’ve been here are older men–many with poor lifestyle choices that have led them to where they are now. I’m slowly learning some of the many algorithms for treating COPD, heart failure, and kidney injuries. Since I’ve started, I have definitely grown more confident in my management plans for my patients, and become more comfortable being wrong. No … Continue reading Update: Life on internal medicine