Research Review: Surprise, a plant-based, low-fat diet has health benefits!

Note I didn't say "is the healthiest for everyone" or "is the best wait to achieve any and all goals". As I enjoy doing from time to time (#nerd), I'll walk you through the study and weigh in on the findings. This study (in JAMA, no less) has demonstrated some of the short-term metabolic effects...

The federal coronavirus response: Is anyone at the wheel?

Health and politics have always overlapped. . . but this is different. The alaphabet soup of government agencies showing up in the news has created plenty of confusion and distraction around what, exactly, the federal government is and is not doing about the pandemic. Below is a basic breakdown of the federal bodies that have...

Self care, values, and productivity (or, are your priorities f*cked?)

I work both as a faculty person at a university and a clinical family nurse practitioner. This means some days, I have a butt-in-seat job where my presence is required in a certain place— to give healthcare or facilitate a class— and sometimes, my work is self-directed and self-paced. It’s relatively easy to balance the...

The golden rule is wrong. Fight me.

As a healthcare provider and educator, equity is a top priority for me. I try to consider the differential impact of every decision I make on different people with different needs. I know I don’t always do this perfectly and I am always learning. It helps to observe others a lot and develop some basic...

Where is your soul?

Stay home, except to get medical care or essentials, and stay six feet away from other people. That was the advice, gentle at first, then more forceful, and finally, backed with a threat of fine or maybe arrest— it wasn’t clear. The change in the city was dramatic. The freeways flowed free. The commercial streets...

Diagnosis vs. Understanding

I’ve been a long-time fan of the Diagnosis column in the New York Times Magazine, written by Dr. Lisa Sanders. (Yep, I get the Sunday Times delivered. I also take my rescue dog to the dog park, shop at the famers’ market, drink kombucha, and wear athleisure. Bite me). Dr. Sanders writes about medical puzzles— cases...