Article
RuPaul’s Drag Race Has Made Me a Better Doctor
August 15, 2024
I audibly gasped as Nymphia Wind kick-flipped during her final lip sync for RuPaul’s Drag Race (RPDR). Shortly thereafter, she was the first East Asian queen crowned “America’s Next Drag...
Article
Love and the Hospitalist
July 1, 2024
Some of the most important lessons I’ve learned in life have come from conversations with my patients. Such was the case with Ms. W a wiry 85-year-old who came in with increasing fatigue and a...
Article
Code Status Discussions; Difficult but Necessary
April 1, 2024
I thought it was just where I practiced, but it turns out that, in the medical field, we’re really bad about having code discussions, which is a significant issue. When some of my patients revealed...
Article
Is ChatGPT a Better Doctor Than You?
December 1, 2023
Dr. Chang That question may be on the minds of many physicians today. We’ve seen that ChatGPT can pass the U.S. medical licensing exams. Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly improving the...
Article
My Journey
November 1, 2023
A startling diagnosis All of a sudden, I was sitting on the other side of the table from another physician, not a patient. I was not discussing my cholesterol levels, blood pressure, or anemia, but...
Gratitude is Good for Us
November 1, 2023
As our discussion about discharge ended, Ms. Jones, stooped, her thin grey hair pulled back, and moved slowly toward her husband’s hospital bed. Gently, she stroked his head and said, “We will...
Article
Finding Beauty in Our Patients’ Lives
October 4, 2023
Awe as a path to greater resilience for hospitalists With her grey hair pulled back and wearing her Sunday best, Ms. W. gracefully rose from the chair and approached the hospital bed where her...
Article
Lessons from a Med-Psych Unit
October 2, 2023
In 2019, I accepted a position at the University of Rochester’s Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, N.Y. I knew this wouldn’t be bread-and-butter hospital medicine, but rather a unique...
Article
Mid-career “Phronesis”
July 5, 2023
The 2023 SHM Converge Conference in Austin, Texas was the backdrop for a chance encounter between two old friends. We and our spouses met during residency 20 years ago, became fast friends, and then...
Article
The Unsung Health Care Hero: When the Physician Advisor Saved a Life
April 11, 2023
Leaving against medical advice is not uncommon in hospitals, but when Ms. Lydia asked to sign out, the nurse and hospitalist were shocked. Ms. Lydia, a sweet, 72-year-old patient with sepsis from...