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Friday, July 11, 2008

  • On Yoga

    After working 80 hours/week all last month, I needed to find a way to relax.  Massages were too expensive, exercise meant I actually had to exercise, so I tried out yoga for the first time last week.  I didn't know what to expect; being a western physician, I never got into all that eastern wellness stuff; being a Christian, I never got into all that Hindu spiritual stuff.  My afternoon went something like this:

    Stepped into the yoga center.  Overwhelmed by the smell of incense.  Looked around at all the pretty decor.  Felt nauseous from all the incense.  Stepped up to the counter.

    Me: Hi, I would like to attend a yoga class.
    Receptionist: Which one?
    Me: Which one...?
    Receptionist: We have vinyasa flow, kundalini, jivamukti, anusara, dharma mittra, and prenatal.
    Me: Um...the easiest one.
    Receptionist: Sign this waiver. *hands me a clipboard with a piece of paper on it*
    I sign the form saying that I understand any physical activity, including yoga, may cause bodily injury.  Great.
    Receptionist: Do you have a yoga mat?
    Me: No.
    Receptionist: *hands me a yoga mat* This is $1 extra.

    Took off my shoes.  Walked into the studio.  Argh, incense smell in here is worse.  Saw people with eyes closed and meditating.  Propped down my mat at the back of the studio trying really hard not to be noticed.  Instructor opened her eyes to signal to me welcome.  D'oh.

    Instructor: *closing eyes*  Let us pray...to the God of Brahma...let us thank him...for creating our bodies...
    My mind: Who's Brahma?  Is he related to Obama?  *closing eyes*  Dear Jesus, thanks for creating my body.
    Instructor: Let us meditate...open up our lungs and let air in from all sides...Feel the energy flow...
    My mind: I don't want a pneumothorax, no thank you.  Dear Jesus, help me to relax, take my stresses away, take this yoke from me, take this weird incense smell away from me.
    Instructor: Let us chant together...the chant of om...
    My mind: What's the chant of om?
    The whole class chants OOOOOOOOOooooooooMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmm.
    My mind: Oh, obviously, that's what it is.
    Instructor: Let us stretch our backs...let us twist...from side to side...Let us look at our kidneys...our kidneys do so much for us...they make us pure...
    I twisted to look at my back and pretended like I can see my kidneys, too.
    Instructor:     This is a time...we celebrate our guru...or the one who removes darkness...and reveils the highest truths...Whether your guru is a person, a flower, the sun or something else...Let us join in this powerful celebration...Let us lay down...and meditate on our own guru...
    I laid down on my $1 mat and thought about my maker.
    Instructor: Let us mobilize...our legs...We always want to work...our right side first...then our left side...The ascending colon is on the right...the descending colon is on the left...we always ascend before we descend...
    My mind: This is really weird logic, but okay.  *stretching my left leg*  Oops, she said right leg first.  *stretching my right leg*  Dang, I'm such a klutz.
    Instructor: Let us bend our right knee...at 90 degrees...grab the ankle...with our right palm...place our head underneath our right leg... *demonstrates*
    My mind: This is getting really complicated.  I thought I told the receptionist I wanted the easy class.  *tried the new position, but fell on my side instead*  Why am I so uncoordinated???
    Instructor: *mumbles things in Sanskrit* dhyana...kundalli...trimurti...patanjali...pranayama...chicken tikka masala curry...pratyahara...mahabharata...
    My mind: Oh goodness, there's a photo of Dalai Lama staring at me. *looked away*  What is Dalai Lama doing here, he's not Hindu?  Did he do yoga too?
    1 hour of uncomfortable positions goes by.
    Instructor: Let us close with a chant of om.
    My mind: Om, this is still kinda weird for me.

    Many Westerners say the yoga practiced in the U.S. is primarily about fitness and stress relief, however, many people believe it has religious overtones as its purpose is to reach enlightenment or union with the Hindu gods.  Some Christians believe the practice of yoga infers that man and God become one, or man equals God; other Christians debate yoga philosophy is separate from yoga practice.  I have several friends (physician or not, Christian or not) who participate in yoga, and enjoy it very much, but it's probably not for me though.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

  • On Law Suits and French Food

    I spent this past week at COPIC, a malpractice insurance company for doctors...and I am seriously contemplating going to law school to be a defense lawyer.  Plaintiff attorneys believe that the threat of litigation makes doctors practice more safely, but interestingly, this punitive approach only makes doctors order more tests and procedures that are of marginal or no medical benefit, primarily for the purpose of reducing medicolegal risk.  My opinion is that true patient safety should stem from the ability for doctors to openly disclose their mistakes and complications, followed by a discussion on how to prevent it in the future.  Unfortunately, everyone makes mistakes, but a doctor should not live in endless shame if he makes an accidental mistake.

    Most people think that if an adverse outcome occurs, it is because the doctor is negligent.  That is actually not true; only 17% of claims appeared to involve a negligent injury, and most adverse outcomes arose from known complications from a procedure.  Doctors still get sued if they demonstrated competence.  All records of claims and suits against a doctor are available for public viewing, regardless of the ruling.  On average, a doctor gets sued every 4 years.  This makes me sad about my profession, and only encourages me to practice "defense medicine" where extra tests and procedures are performed just to cover my own butt.

    So why law school?  Knowing the medical system first-hand, I feel like I can formulate good defense arguments for doctors.  I strongly believe that doctors who practice good medicine but gets sued need to be defended.  Vice versa, doctors who practice negligent medicine should be held accountable, but I do not think that I want to be the one to reprimand them.  Participating in several claims and law suits discussions, meeting with many lawyers, speaking with several M.D., J.D.'s, I definitely want to advocate for patient safety, sound medicine practice, and support good doctors.  Perhaps my lawyer pals reading this blog can comment.

    I found myself to be more opinionated lately, and more expressive.  (Thank God Justin listens to all my yap!)  I recently started writing reviews on Yelp.  For those who are unfamiliar, Yelp is a website that features reviews on restaurants, stores, almost all professional services.  I'd like to think my opinions on Yelp are informative and fair.  To my surprise, I have been contacted by owners and employees of several places I reviewed, including Le Central, my favorite French restaurant in Denver.  He had implemented a suggestion from my review!  Little by little, step by step, first is writing reviews on Yelp, next is being a defense lawyer for doctors.  Okay, there are many steps in between, but no doubt, an intermediate step is to convince restaurant owners to bribe me for writing reviews.

    http://aliceawu.yelp.com

Thursday, March 20, 2008

  • On Patient Education Handouts

    On many occasions, the physician does not have time to educate patients on very basic things, and often we must rely on pre-printed handouts and ask patients to read them.  Below are some patient education handouts for brand new parents, courtesy of my co-resident Ryan.

    I love patient education handouts.

    25[1]

      24[1] 23[1] 22[1] 20[1] 18[1] 17[1] 15[1] 14[1] 13[1] 12[1] 11[1] 10[1] 9[1] 8[1] 7[1] 4[1] 3[1] 2[1]27[1]

Thursday, February 28, 2008

  • On Bob

    I am excited to see more businesses incorporate the internet to communicate with their customers.  There have even been discussions in my own clinic about setting up a way for our patients to email their doctors, but the idea was turned down as we doctors realized it would add more work to our already busy schedules of calling back patients on the telephone, calling back family members, calling back the pharmacy, calling patients back with test results, calling patients who need to be seen but refuse to come in.  However, I did notice that my optometrist's office has been sending me intermittent e-mail ads asking me to splurge on their new line of designer glasses.  Today, I received the strangest ad from that optometrist's office:


Monday, February 18, 2008

  • On Something Controversial 2

    To follow up on my last Xanga post, I finished my last day at the abortion clinic this weekend.  I pulled into the parking lot, and as expected, the angry mob of protesters again assumed (erroroneously) that I was an abortion doctor and eyed me with contempt as I stepped out of my car.  I grabbed my things and a security guard escorted me to the clinic door.

    One of the protesters, a man in his 50’s, smirked at me and yelled out, “Oh look, there’s the new abortion doctor!  You are a murderer!!!  God will judge you and you will go to hell!!!  The Bible says that you will go to hell!!!”  I was not sure how to respond at that point, so I just went inside the clinic and finished the ultrasounds that I was responsible for.  As I was leaving the clinic, I felt a strong urge to speak to the protesters.  After all, if anyone is going to tell me that I will go to hell, his first name better be Jesus, and his last name better be Christ.

    I walked into the crowd of protesters, and smiled.  “Hi there, I am looking for the man who yelled at me that I am going to hell.”

    “Oh, that could have been any one of us,” a man in his 40’s replied.  Well, at least this dude has a sense of humor.

    I immediately drew a crowd of protesters around me, as it is unusual for them to see a physician actually approach them out of her own will.  I introduced myself and explained to them about my Christian faith, my belief about the sanctity of life, and my professional position to want to understand the abortion process.  They proceeded with telling me how the Bible says that God condemns abortion, how a fetus is a living being, and that abortion is murder.  They stuffed me with anti-abortion pamphlets showing gruesome photos of fetal parts taken from abortions, and cited Bible verses about the sanctity of fetal life.

    Eh, wait, did I not just explain to them that I am also Christian and that I also believe in the sanctity of life?  I think the protesters were so used to giving the same speech day after day, that they have became too mechanical in their approach.

    “I am a Christian, and I believe the Bible,” I clarified again, “The reason I wanted to meet all of you is so that I can explain to you why 1) as a family physician, I think it is important to visit an abortion clinic to better understand the process, and 2) as a Christian, I also think it is important to visit an abortion clinic to understand the secular world.”  I ended up having an amicable conversation with them…which certainly reassured me that I no longer needed to worry about them damaging my car during this visit.

    Here are some interesting factoids about this group of protesters:
    •    60% of them have actually undergone an abortion or encouraged a significant other to undergo an abortion in the past.  They feel like they have repented and been forgiven.
    •    They are from all denominations, but 75% of them attend one church which emphasizes condemnation and fear as tools to guilt people out of having an abortion.
    •    According to their statistics, they successfully scare 75-100 women out of abortions per year.
    •    They all believe that God called them to protest at this specific abortion clinic.
    •    Their day off from protesting is Mondays.

    I commended them for having strong religious convictions, but I expressed the concern that condemnation and fear are not the right ways to spread the gospel to other people.  The entire teaching of Jesus Christ was based on love.  Yes, He got angry at times, He got sad at times; these are completely normal human emotions.  Regardless, His greatest commandment was about love.

    “If Jesus were here today, He would do the same thing,” one of the protesters said to me.

    “If Jesus were here today, He wouldn’t assume that every doctor who went into the abortion clinic were performing abortions, nor would He yell at all-comers to go to hell,” I said.

    That made them silent.  Sadly, the women considering abortions are treated better by the staff inside the abortion clinic than by the protesting Christian mob outside.

    “God called me to protest this way,” one protester finally said, indicating that he is not going to stop what he is doing regardless of what I said.

    That made me silent.  I never like to argue with someone if he is convinced that God has called him to do something, even if it is a little peculiar.  (Hey, God called me to marry Justin...).

    At the end of the day, I gave them my business card.  I told them I am a family physician who provide prenatal care and deliver babies.  If there is a patient who needs prenatal care, they can send her my way.  With no more guts left in me for the rest of the year, I drove out of the parking lot with my intact car.

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