Why are we less forgiving of Ralph Northam as a politician than as a doctor?
I doubt this weekend is the first time anyone has laid eyes on the racist picture published on Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook page. Yet over the past few...
View ArticleOnce I was warned not to be a ‘mommy doctor.’ Was I becoming a ‘mommy writer’?
“You make time for the things you love.” That’s what I have always said when asked how I am able to be a writer and a doctor-in-training. Over the past decade, I have stood firmly balanced on these...
View ArticleWhen my favorite patient turned on me, I learned a lesson in the emotional...
After I declined to prescribe him stimulant medication, one of my favorite patients became angry and began to raise his voice. It was the last appointment of the day, and the clinic was largely empty....
View ArticleWhen it comes to health care, nothing is nonpartisan. Melania Trump’s visit...
This morning I was alarmed to learn of first lady Melania Trump’s visit to Boston Medical Center. Like my nearby hospital, Cambridge Health Alliance, BMC opens its doors to everyone, including the most...
View ArticleMy baby needed expensive intensive care, but my insurer was taking a long...
On Thanksgiving evening my baby spiked a high fever. By Friday morning her little head started bobbing up and down as it became hard for her to breathe. My daughter had an infection and she was in...
View ArticleAs medical professionals, my husband and I know the Nigerian travel ban is...
A few days ago my daughter was diagnosed with a rare disease. In our time of need, my husband and I wanted to rely on our family for support but that option was suddenly ripped away from us. And it’s...
View ArticleThere’s no one-size-fits-all for physician bodies. Why don’t ads for trendy...
Last year I treated a young patient struggling with body image issues. This child’s parents feared that being fat was a harbinger of a horrible future. Their fear was not uncommon, as we live in a...
View ArticleWhen the hoofbeats really are a zebra’s, a patient community helps me...
“I have some unexpected news.” That’s what the doctor said to me when my 10-month-old baby was tested for the cause of her persistently low blood sugar. Unexpected is how I’ve come to understand our...
View ArticleMeghan Markle described racism as a toxic stressor during her pregnancy. I...
Megan Markle made the difficult confession that she experienced suicidal thoughts while pregnant with her son. As a reproductive and perinatal psychiatrist and a Black mother as well, I am heartbroken...
View Article‘Motherhood in medicine’: Returning from parental leave was hard. Covid made...
Earlier this month, I steeled myself for my return to work after giving birth to my second child. The transition back to the workforce after parental leave is challenging even in the best of...
View Article‘Who is going to protect me?’: Ratings app aims to remove bias from the...
Thirty weeks into my first pregnancy, I developed some concerning abdominal pain. The clinicians in labor and delivery triage examined me — they took a urine sample, measured my blood pressure, and...
View ArticleMy pregnancy made me fear for my career as a physician. It doesn’t have to be...
I cried when I found out I was pregnant with my second child. While I was happy to expand my family, I knew the task of growing a human was not easy. In addition to anticipating the grueling physical...
View ArticleOperating at a loss: Our health care system depends on physicians donating...
During my third year of residency, I staggered my work hours in an attempt to avoid Boston’s soul-crushing pre-pandemic traffic. Some days I would strategically arrive very early and other days I would...
View ArticleWhat racism in medicine takes from us
During my freshman year of college, Cornel West, the renowned philosopher, had been invited to speak at a campus event. My Black friends buzzed with excitement and rushed to secure tickets to his...
View Article‘Why would I want that?’: My sister’s simple question reshaped my physician...
My younger sister has just started college, and she was thinking about pursuing a career in medicine. A few weeks before she left home last summer, we looked over her course catalog together and...
View ArticleA physician’s Mother’s Day gift: reclaimed time with my children — and for...
As a child, I fondly remember running through the kids’ aisle at Video World with my younger brother. We were excited to pick out VHS tapes for our family to watch over the weekend. I don’t recall...
View ArticleAffirmative action improved public health — and carried a high personal cost...
I should be irate and despondent about the Supreme Court’s scrapping of affirmative action in admissions. It’s several steps backward. And yet, I have mixed emotions about the practice, informed by my...
View ArticleKrystal Cascetta, Lindsay Clancy, and the impossibility of being a mom in...
In Igbo-Nigerian culture, new moms receive exquisite care from their own mothers, mothers-in-law, or surrogate mothers for the first few months postpartum. After each of my daughters was born, I was...
View ArticleWhy is maternity leave for doctors such a complete mess?
I was sitting in my car around 4 p.m. on a Friday, waiting in the parking lot to be called in for my pre-delivery Covid test. I was equally exhausted from the physical demands of my second pregnancy...
View ArticleThe harms of adverse childhood experiences are well-known. But positive...
I was recently working with a young mother who struggled with depression and anxiety in the difficult year following the birth of her child. In addition to managing the herculean task of adjusting to...
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