Happy New Year 2017!

The Whistleblower wishes all readers all good things for the coming year. 2017 will launch us into uncertain times where many of us are a mélange of hope, worry, fear, resignation, optimism, anger, skepticism, validation and self-doubt. Will the ship of state sail straight and true or will we find the nation steaming off course into dangerous waters? I suspect that it will not be simply one path or the other. There will be times when we will stray and other times when we will more closely hit the desired target. This is how every government, and indeed every person, lives and breathes.

Off Course or On Target?

We can accept the inevitable zigzagging with the hope and belief that the overall trend will take us forward.

Let us celebrate our successes and exercise some forbearance when we or others miss the mark despite good intentions.

This blog enriches and challenges me and I hope it brings some small measure of delight to all of you. Please continue to let me know (with forbearance!) when I have missed the mark.

I wish all of you well.

Comments

Becoming a Part-Time Physician

Next month my schedule will change. I will henceforth be off on Fridays with my work week truncated to Monday through Thursday. I am excited to be enjoying a long weekend every weekend. And while the schedule change is relatively minor, this event does feel like an important career moment for me. It is the first step on a journey that will ultimately lead beyond my professional career. It is this recognition that makes this modest schedule modification more significant than one would think it deserves. As some readers know, my current employed position has been a dream job for me. Prior to this, I was in a small private practice, which I loved, but was much more challenging professionally and personally. My partner and I ran the business. Working nights, weekends and holidays were routine for decades. On an on-call night, if I slept through until morning, I felt as if I had won the lottery. And w...

When Should Doctors Retire?

I am asked with some regularity whether I am aiming to retire in the near term. Years ago, I never received such inquiries. Why now? Might it be because my coiffure and goatee – although finely-manicured – has long entered the gray area? Could it be because many other even younger physicians have given up their stethoscopes for lives of leisure? (Hopefully, my inquiring patients are not suspecting me of professional performance lapses!) Interestingly, a nurse in my office recently approached me and asked me sotto voce that she heard I was retiring. “Interesting,” I remarked. Since I was unaware of this retirement news, I asked her when would be my last day at work. I have no idea where this erroneous rumor originated from. I requested that my nurse-friend contact her flawed intel source and set him or her straight. Retirement might seem tempting to me as I have so many other interests. Indeed, reading and ...

Personal Responsibility for Health

One of the advantages of the computer era is that patients and physicians can communicate via a portal system. A patient can submit an inquiry which I typically respond to promptly. It also offers me the opportunity to provide advice or test results to patients. Moreover, the system documents that the patient has in fact read my message. Beyond the medical value, it also provides some legal protection if it is later alleged that ‘my doctor never sent me my results’. I have always endorsed the concept that patients must accept personal responsibility. Consider this hypothetical example. A patient undergoes a screening colonoscopy and a polyp is removed. The patient is told to expect a portal message detailing the results in the coming days. Once the analysis of the polyp has been completed, the doctor sends a message via the portal communicating that the polyp is benign, but is regarded as ‘precancerous'. The patient is advise...

MD Whistleblower

Search This Blog