The Limits of Resilience
(initially published in General Surgery News in February 2021) One year ago this month, I walked into the surgeon’s lounge after an early morning case. As I sat down to dictate, I heard a colleague remark, “There’s an active shooter in the hospital.” My throat tightened and my voice squeaked as I asked, “Are you
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The Dance of Donation
“Code trauma. ETA 5 min.” The message flashed across my pager on a Wednesday during morning rounds. As I hustled downstairs to the trauma bay, I called ahead and asked, “What’s coming?” “Mid 30s. Hanging. 10 minutes of CPR with ROSC. Intubated on the scene. Pupils fixed and dilated.” “Damn,” I mumbled as I hung
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Taking Care of Our Own
(Initially published on Doximity Oct 7, 2020) The first time I met Dr. Bob, he was sitting upright in his bed, wrapped in a bathrobe, with a pair of reading glasses balanced precariously on his forehead. I was in the midst of my hospice and palliative medicine fellowship, rotating at the local inpatient hospice facility
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The Final Chapter
(published in General Surgery News September 2020) The first time I saw a death certificate, I was nineteen years old. The cause of death was listed as “laceration of the trachea and esophagus, also laceration of heart and lungs with fractures and bleeding caused by two gun shots in the neck and chest.” The death
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