Greetings, fellow White Coat Warrior!
As 2024 begins, I think about how lucky I am to have strong networks: family, friends, neighbors, and you, my fellow white coat warrior battling in the daily trenches of frontline medicine.
[Me in morning mom mode before transitioning to doctor mode]
Much like parenting, medicine is a simultaneously grueling and rewarding calling. There are highs and lows. You see people at their best and their most vulnerable times. As with parenting, you hope that with your help your patients will evolve into healthy, independent ideal versions of themselves who no longer need you. In healthcare as in parenting, it is critical to have a strong support network: fellow practitioners who can laugh with you, cry with you, give clinical advice to you, and cheer you on from the bleachers. Because I’ve been lucky enough to develop a strong network of healthcare providers like you, I’m starting this blog to give back and support you: my fellow brothers and sisters in healthcare. I’ve got thoughts on how to choose an EMR, how to best manage your patient portal so it doesn’t manage you, tips for self-care in healthcare, how to develop rapport with difficult patients, and general advice on how to spend more face time with your patients and less time face time with your EMR. If you have any particular topics in medicine you want me to cover, let me know! I am your biggest bench side cheerleader, supporting and cheering you on with both motivational and practical day to day musings from a fellow provider. After all, medicine is a hard profession. Burnout is real. It is also a most worthy calling. Your patients need you now more than you will ever, ever know. Just as our patients need us, we need each other even more. Here’s to 2024!
Stay tuned and stay strong,
-Lauren
You are simply the best