Passing the Family Medicine Torch
An ancient Chinese philosopher said ‘journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step’. But what Lao-Tze failed to mention was that the traveler is often nudged into taking that first step. In my case, it was a fellow resident more than 18 years ago who said to me, “Jack, I’m going to San Francisco with the residents group for the CAFP annual meeting. Do you want to tag along?” And as they say...
Family Medicine and Patient Centered Care Are the Best, Most Cost Effective Care for our Patients
I want to share a recent anecdote from my clinic which highlights how patient centered family medicine is cost effective and simply good care for patients. I saw Mr. F, a 75-year-old gentleman. Like many of my patients, he has a history of high blood pressure and obesity. He also had a heart attack in the past as well as two additional stents placed in his coronary arteries. I was seeing him in follow up to his hospitalization. ...
My Experience: Attending Medical School in Cuba
During one of my breaks from medical school in Cuba, I rotated at a US hospital. I was rounding with a third year Family Medicine resident who had a patient with a pleural effusion that needed draining. The resident had not done a thoracentesis before and the attending asked him to locate where he thought we should insert the needle into the patient. He was not comfortable with this and went to get the Ultrasound. While we waited with...
Family Medicine Revolution: The Evolution
Our hashtag #FMRevolution (aka Family Medicine Revolution) was born in 2011. At the time, my aims were two-fold: “Become the physician you wrote about in your personal statement.” That family physicians and other primary care providers realize we are better than what the status quo values us at and we need to ‘revolt’ against the currently fragmented health care delivery machine that exists right now (we’ve been...
Field Notes: Advice on Finding a Residency
We have finally arrived. After four years of endless studying, constant testing, and what sometimes felt like never-ending days in the hospital, a new crop of family physicians is about to join the ranks of residents-in-training. We have, for the last six months, hit the road to learn about and explore to our hearts content not just what kind of physician we hope to become, but also where and how. The question of “What kind of doctor...