Posts Tagged ‘Robert schwab’
What She Said
William Faulkner once said that writing was his meat and his drink, or something similar to that. Well, stories are my meat and my drink, whether I am writing them or reading them. I am fascinated by the power of stories, and try to convey their power through writing and speaking and teaching. Sometimes I…
Read MoreHealth Care Reform Deserves Better
Not long ago, I became a patient. I was sitting at my desk, writing in a journal, when suddenly things became unsteady. I’d had a previously dizzy spell a couple of days ago, and since I’m a doctor, I recognized it as vertigo, and knew that it most likely represented age-related changes in the balance…
Read MoreBe Still
In my talk in Charleston a little more than a week ago, I spoke about a four-part prescription to help medical students avoid burnout. Well, although burnout affects medical students more than other similar-aged young adults, it is a threat for us all. One element of the prescription involves mindfulness, which involves stopping what you’re…
Read MoreA Prescription For Doctors-To-Be
I travel once again to Charleston this week. I love the city for its architecture, its history, its food, and its relationship to the water. But this week, I’m going to speak to a group of dedicated people who are doing wonderful, important work. The meeting where I am speaking is the Southeastern Association of…
Read MoreCaring For The Next Generation of Caregivers
I had lunch yesterday with the Dean of the Honors College at The University of Texas at Dallas, and with the faculty director of the PACT program at UTD, a collaboration with UT-Southwestern medical school that allows highly-qualified high school students to complete undergraduate and medical education in seven years instead of the usual eight.…
Read MoreEvery Picture Tells A Story
Stories are with us always, in everything we do, I think, and for me, that has been particularly true these last few months, as I teach my class to premedical students about the power of narrative, and as I work on final production of my second novel, Back Side Of A Hurricane. For the past…
Read MoreThere Are Two Sides To A Hurricane
Hurricanes are circular storms that revolve (counterclockwise) as they move in a linear direction. That means the prevailing winds are blowing southward as a hurricane makes landfall, and then northward once the eye passes and the back side passes through. This phenomenon came to me years ago while listening to a public radio report about…
Read More“And It Took Me Back To Something, I’d Lost Somehow, Somewhere Along The Way”
Last week, I began teaching my first class at the University of Texas at Dallas. I am teaching an undergraduate seminar to premedical students, a seminar on the healing power of narrative. It was a thrilling experience meeting these young, idealistic students, high achievers all, and eager to make a difference in the world. We…
Read MoreWould-be Physician, Heal Thyself
A new article from the Journal of the American Medical Association is the subject of a story on cnn.com this week Read Article Here. The story confirms that a significant percentage of medical students and medical residents suffer from depression, and goes on to discuss the contributors to this alarming statistic. This data, combined with…
Read MoreWhen You Think You Can’t Do Anything, There’s A Lot You Can Do
My son’s car was stolen from the streets of downtown Dallas about three weeks ago. He was visiting a friend, parked legally for about twenty minutes, and it was gone when he came out. His initial thought was that it was towed, and when he called, he was told that he would need to call…
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