M.D. Plus an Additional Degree?
As I wrote in my chapter “My Journey to Becoming a Teen Doc“ in The Chronicles of Women in White Coats 2 book, I have wanted to be a doctor since I was ten years old. During my adolescent medicine fellowship, I enjoyed working with my patients one on one but I always thought that […]
Want Three More Weeks Off a Year?
Me: “Want three more weeks off each year?” You: “Of course, I do! What do I have to do to get it?” You might think you will have to negotiate your contract. Or you might need to beg. Nope, it is easy. You just chart like a guy! In the February 2021 JAMA Internal Medicine […]
Moving Beyond The U.S. Capitol Riots
Moving Beyond The U.S. Capitol Riots January 6, 2021. This day will definitely go down in history. I remember sitting downstairs in front of the building that houses my Pediatric clinic. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been performing visits for our sick patients through our drive-up clinic in front of the building every […]
Black Women in Medicine – Why Do We Need Them?
On February 3rd, we celebrated National Women Physicians Day. This day was chosen to honor the birthday of Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell – the first woman to obtain a medical degree in the United States. February is also Black History Month. As young children, we learn so much about Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa […]
Happy Mardi Gras…But It Won’t Be the Same This Year
“If more people get COVID, will Mardi Gras be cancelled?????”, the exasperated tone evident in the punctuation chosen by a mother, asking how to answer that question for her children, as they prepare for the unknowns of the upcoming holiday season. As a moderator for a COVID-19 panel discussion recently, that question caught my attention, […]
The Three Key Steps in Taking Care of Your Heart During a Pandemic
Every February, we raise awareness for heart disease in celebration of American Heart Month. Although our attention this year is focused on COVID-19, we must not forget the effect that heart disease has on the lives of so many Americans. According to the CDC, a staggering 610,000 people die of heart disease every year. For […]
Beyond Dr. Blackwell: A History and Physical
CC: Female physician wearing scrubs, #wearfigs History of Presenting Illness (HPI): Figs is a scrubs company owned by females The company released an ad for their scrubs x 1 day The ad portrayed a female physician as (in no particular order): Dumb (Reading “Medical Terminology for Dummies” upside down) Very, very young White Waif thin […]
The Challenge of “EXCLUSIVE”
As I write this in mid-January 2021, I wonder which is more in demand right now? A COVID-19 vaccine or a Clubhouse invitation? Both are hard to get, and only a few folks qualify. The COVID-19 vaccine, many believe, is crucial to stop the pandemic and return to normal. Currently, in North Carolina, only front-line […]
From 9/11 to the Capitol Riots
In the fall of 2001, I was a medical student doing an Internal Medicine clerkship in Brooklyn, New York City. Every morning we attended “morning report” from 8-9 am in a basement conference room. Morning report is an hour-long conference during which cases from overnight are reviewed. The conference is a wealth of knowledge, and […]
Know Your Breastfeeding Rights
Have you ever had your rights violated as a breastfeeding woman? Have you ever been told that you cannot breastfeed your baby or cannot pump when you needed to? A recent news story about a breastfeeding mom in California described her experience in online higher education classes. Her professor said that the camera and microphone […]
