I knew he meant well, but he could not and would not ever really understand. "Think of it was one, long pregnancy," he said. "I mean, all those eggs were all taken out of you on the same day and fertilized on the same day..." "So it's like they're all part of the same process." At first …
Realms of Balance: How to Assess Yours
I recently heard a very good interview of a man named Stewart Friedman. My ears perked up when he said, "You have to constantly figure out what is important to you." The concept of self-care through continuous reflection and assessment is something of central importance to this blog. The Wharton …
New Year: Different, Yet Same
It's the new year, and I often start it off by doing a little decluttering. In efforts to clean out my study, I came across my medical school yearbook. Each student in my class was given a page in the book that was headed with our (new and strange) "MD" signature and a picture of us in our white …
Gossip: The Donut of Stress Relief
We all cope with stress in our lives using good techniques and not-so-good techniques. I'm knee-deep in preparation for my upcoming oral board examination, and to act like I'm handling the stress perfectly would be a complete fake out. I have fallen into some of my own old, less effective habits …
The Power of Music to Relieve Stress
I've been dealing with my own stress issues lately in the midst of my preparation for the American Board of Anesthesiology oral board exam (the final step to getting board certified!). Just last night, I was up for at least an hour at 3 am replaying mock oral exam scenarios in my head, the adverse …
The Case for M&M’s
No, this is not a blog post about those little round candies... In the medical world, M&M stands for Morbidity & Mortality Conference. In other fields or any corporate environment where long-term projects come and go, it can be referred to as a Post-Mortem. Much like an autopsy, medical …