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Learning Lessons From Patients: Attitude Is Everything

When I was in the 8th grade and honored at the “A” team honor roll breakfast, the speech was one that I never forgot: “Attitude is Everything.” Essentially, having a good education and good grades give you the tools to be successful, but having a great attitude toward any challenges ASSURES that you will arrive at that success.

Being a pediatrician AND an endocrinologist, I am blessed to work with many graceful children and their families who face medical endocrine challenges with great attitudes.  I can recall numerous examples but will share one of my favorites: A now 11-year-old vibrant female with hashimotos thyroiditis who was diagnosed at 5 years old. Initially, she required frequent lab checks for medication adjustment (~5-6) which then decreased to ~2-3 annually thereafter for further medication dosing adjustments of synthroid replacement as she outgrew prior lower doses.

Her attitude towards her lab draws has always stuck with me because surprisingly she actually looked forward to them AND to her endo visits! She and her mother would always go out to eat and spend special quality time together whenever she had to have a lab draw. They would always choose Mexican food for these special outings, and in fact would limit all Mexican food intake, making it that much more special. Read more »

Latest Interviews

IDEA Labs: Medical Students Take The Lead In Healthcare Innovation

It’s no secret that doctors are disappointed with the way that the U.S. healthcare system is evolving. Most feel helpless about improving their work conditions or solving technical problems in patient care. Fortunately one young medical student was undeterred by the mountain of disappointment carried by his senior clinician mentors…

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How To Be A Successful Patient: Young Doctors Offer Some Advice

I am proud to be a part of the American Resident Project an initiative that promotes the writing of medical students residents and new physicians as they explore ideas for transforming American health care delivery. I recently had the opportunity to interview three of the writing fellows about how to…

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Latest Book Reviews

Book Review: Is Empathy Learned By Faking It Till It’s Real?

I m often asked to do book reviews on my blog and I rarely agree to them. This is because it takes me a long time to read a book and then if I don t enjoy it I figure the author would rather me remain silent than publish my…

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The Spirit Of The Place: Samuel Shem’s New Book May Depress You

When I was in medical school I read Samuel Shem s House Of God as a right of passage. At the time I found it to be a cynical yet eerily accurate portrayal of the underbelly of academic medicine. I gained comfort from its gallows humor and it made me…

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Eat To Save Your Life: Another Half-True Diet Book

I am hesitant to review diet books because they are so often a tangled mess of fact and fiction. Teasing out their truth from falsehood is about as exhausting as delousing a long-haired elementary school student. However after being approached by the authors’ PR agency with the promise of a…

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