We have seen triumphs, and we have seen disasters, but we certainly see no end in sight. This somber conclusion took me back to my impressions as a medical resident, training in Internal Medicine, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. For those who don’t know, residency is the crucible of medical indoctrination, the harsh gauntlet of transformation. The hours and duress of it all have been attenuated over time, although they remain impressive by most standards.
Healthcare professionals, scientists and pharmaceutical companies’ understanding of the daily impact of disease and treatment on a person’s life are not always as good as they could be. Historically the focus has been on clinical outcomes, with an assumption that this naturally aligns with the outcomes from a patient’s perspective. Unfortunately, they are not always aligned at all.
If you follow the entrepreneurship blogosphere, you are most likely familiar with the lean startup methodology, including the concepts of minimally viable product (MVP), minimally viable pilot, the customer discovery process and the business model canvas.
As a psychiatrist, part of my job is to talk to people about suicide. Suicidal thoughts are a symptom like all other symptoms that I consider in my assessments. Often people are fearful that if they admit to feeling this way I will instantly hospitalize them against their will. (Not true -- there are only certain situations when I have to which I will explain later).
Sometimes we can figure out the best antidepressant to start by asking the right questions. Before I choose an antidepressant for my patient, I think about these 6 questions. We can frequently narrow down the choices so we know which antidepressant to try first.
The lead up to the Mediterranean Diet Roundtable conference at Yale University, where I will be privileged to serve as speaker and MC has been, in a word, turbulent. Over just the past couple of weeks, there has been a bounty of news regarding the meeting’s eponymous topic, involving both trials, and tribulations.
Yesterday, my Apple Watch reprimanded me for failing to close my activity rings. I had a pretty good excuse, however: I was on a plane from New York to San Francisco. Besides, I had done my customary workout earlier in the day; I just wasn’t wearing my watch at the time. There was some irony in it all as well, as my meeting at the other end of that flight was in Cupertino. My Apple Watch was admonishing me while I was flying it home.