Clinical

Lauren Ashley Umstattd, MD (1 Posts)

Resident Physician Contributing Writer

University of Missouri

Lauren Umstattd is an Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery resident at the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO. She was born and raised in the Midwest. She is a former Division I gymnast who competed for the University of Missouri as an undergraduate and graduated Summa Cum Laude. She continued her education at the University of Missouri School of Medicine and was elected into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, cooking, and traveling.

We’re Ignoring a Key Factor in the Opioid Epidemic

Published by Lauren Ashley Umstattd, MD

In order for the country to make meaningful progress in tackling the opioid epidemic, we need a cultural shift in the way patients and providers think about pain.

Pharmaceutical companies and physicians are being demonized for their manufacturing and dispensing of opioid analgesics. Money-hungry executives from Big Pharma caused the crisis by brainwashing doctors to prescribe these medications left and right. Greedy doctors want patients dependent upon them for years, ensuring a steady stream of paying patients in their waiting room. Drugs drive the market. Drugs lead to big profits for everyone involved. The more drugs, the better.

What Remains

Published by Juliana Romano, MD

By anyone’s standards, from a medical perspective, we did everything right. But all I could think about is how much we hurt this boy by saving his life. How we saved his life just enough, not to kill him, just to take away every meaningful part of human existence.

Three Generations

Published by Romela Petrosyan, MD

In the late 1950s, my grandmother was often told, “Medicine is no place for a woman.” As a result, she went to medical school under the guise of attending a teaching college deemed appropriate by her mother. It was a difficulty journey for my grandmother to gain acceptance to Yerevan State Medical University in Armenia.

Iowan Physicians: Fetal Heartbeat Law Devalues Medicine and Devalues Women

Published by Melissa Palma, MD, MPH

For most of our childhoods growing up in the Midwest, the Iowa we called home was a swing state proud of its investments in education, was welcoming to refugees from around the world, and was the third US state to legalize marriage equality.

Combating Burnout Through Advocacy: A Resident’s ACGME Journey

Published by Amanda Pannu, MD

One evening, overwhelmed by burnout, I drafted a letter of resignation to my program director and saved it on my computer. The next morning, I deleted the email without sending it.

Figure 1. “Relationship between System 1 and System 2 thinking.” Daily encounters lead to the activation of System 1 or System 2 thinking. Problems demanding higher levels of thought either directly or indirectly activate System 2. Repetitive exposure decreases the demand for System 2 thinking and increases both productivity and the risk for error.

Systems-Based Thinking: How Subconscious Thought Affects Medical Decision Making

Published by David Louis, MD

System-based thinking describes a set of subconscious thought processes aptly named System 1 and System 2. The profession of medicine relies heavily on SBT — the ability to rapidly diagnose, treat, and improvise during stressful situations is dependent on these systems, which develop and mature throughout one’s training.

A Modest Proposal: There is No Substitute for Time in Medicine

Published by Kevin Chun, MD

Physician burnout has emerged as an increasingly concerning phenomenon in medicine. As high as 51% of physicians in a Medscape survey report symptoms of burnout. Doctors face higher demands with less time and support. Academic medical centers, which historically have been insulated from outside forces, are now seeing larger patient censuses, leaving less time for physicians to work through each patient’s case carefully.

Locker Room Culture in Medicine

Published by Syed Samin Shehab, MD

“Locker room culture” is a common trope that has been used to describe medical community of the recent past. Current practitioners will say that culture is, unfortunately, still prevalent.

Catharsis

Published by Gabrielle Navon, MD

I dance with hula hoops as a form of self-expression and catharsis. I have been practicing this art form for over four years now, and it always amazes me how much more there is to learn.

I Think He is Ready

Published by Gebran Khneizer, MD

Mrs. Red Jacket sat at the bedside in her isolation gown which covered her red jacket. She had left her walker outside her husband’s room. Mrs. Red Jacket held his hand and gazed out the window while he was sleeping.

Morning Coffee (2017)

Published by Jason Lunt, DO

I often arrive before sunrise and leave long after sunset, enduring unpredictable and challenging schedules while juggling multiple competing responsibilities.

Hope Lost and Found

Published by Monica Samelson, MD

At the beginning of my intern year, I bought a ukulele. I started intern year at a sprint, like anyone does, arms full of hope. This was quickly extinguished, lost in an atmosphere so devoid of hope that it all flew out of my arms to settle into places so far apart, it might as well have been floating in the vacuum of space.

Monica Samelson, MD (1 Posts)

Resident Physician Contributing Writer

University of Washington School of Medicine

Monica is a second year psychiatry resident at University of Washington and graduated medical school from University of Illinois at Chicago. She has long been a writer -- winning contests as an undergrad, contributing to the lit mag in medical school, and now leading the narrative medicine group in residency. She is guided by the principles of grit, thoughtfulness, and intensity, and hopes to live these values by working as a child psychiatrist working towards social change. She writes at www.monicasamelson.com.

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