The Hippocratic Oath is the read to all medical Students in a White Coat Ceremony in the first few days of Medical School. It is also recited at graduation.  I have had the privilege of having worked with some really great physicians who are honest and ethical. They are talented not just in their chosen specialties but are accomplished athletes, musicians, writers, poets, and singers. They all have in common the ability to make patients feel safe. I have had a rare one or two that I chose not to refer patients to because I was not comfortable with a treatment plan but that did not include any of the talented well-rounded ones. Continue reading →

Women are the foundation of our society.  From the moment  girls are born, the love and support from family helps them evolve into strong, confident and caring women.

Yet, fear and suffocating religious customs and cultural beliefs prevents this from happening in many parts of the world.  Across the world these precious members of our society are being raped, killed, sold into slavery, struggling on minimum wages and being victimized by their male partners. They are trapped in poverty and held captive.

Over the years, my female patients have revealed the pain of sexual assault, incest and intimate partner violence.  Women in the military who are serving our country and looking for a better life are being victimized. Even on college campuses where women are supposed to be safe, sexual assault is happening and being mishandled.

Women have worked and completed their education while raising their children alone.  Many are caring for aging parents. While we debate minimum wage, crippling student loan debts, and abortion; we are losing sight of the importance of these issues to the number of women who are struggling to get out of poverty.

Studies show that girls raised by working are confident, have higher levels of education, earn more money and are more likely to be in supervisory roles. There are daily assaults on our confidence from bullying by peers and even adults.  I am really against Facebook shaming.  This latest incident proved me right. Fathers play a critical role, if they are present,  in  the development of a girl’s self-esteem. A betrayal can have devastating and even deadly consequences.

My uncles took the place of my father who did not have the stability to provide support emotionally or financially.  Each of my mother’s brothers made it a point of always letting me know they cared.  One uncle took me to my first concert.  Another taught me to fold sheets and make a bed with military style corners. He made sure we cleaned the house to perfection before he left for his night shift.  My mother, worked days and had a long bus ride home.  We felt pride when she came home to a clean house. When I came home from college and later medical school for visits, their faces were all I needed to see.  They beamed with pride.  My uncle still to this day wants to know how I am doing and loves to hear stories about my patients.  It was my way of letting him know how I was progressing.  I would tell him about a difficult case and how I made the diagnosis.

Teachers are critical to the creation of a supportive environment in the classroom for all students.  My teachers taught well and expected us to do well.  I never heard that I could not go to medical school. My minister and my church was supportive. In my church,  I was praised for making the honor roll and graduating with honors. No one ever said that I could not afford to go to college or medical school. They all acted as if that was what I was destined to do. They just said, I would make a good doctor.  I was in the class of 1983 from Meharry. Our class had, at that time, the highest number of females to ever graduate from the school.

The joint win of the Nobel Peace Prize by Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi  highlights the importance of the need to support the education of girls and prevent the exploitation of children world-wide.

Women can be scientists, make important contributions to science and win a Nobel Prize without being a distraction in the lab.  We can be a CEO of a major company and bounce back with grace after a tragic loss and be an inspiration to us all. We can produce and direct movies and as an actor redefine beauty and body-image by not falling victim to all the hype. Let’s not forget launching a television network.

As we struggle through this 2016 presidential campaign and have the opportunity to elect a woman as President, it is disheartening to hear the petty issues that are being discussed. As women, we should demand discussion of the issues that are important and not whether a woman has the ability to be President.  The answer is yes we do have what it takes to lead a country: yes, she does. It is important for our girls to hear that. message. The global issues affecting women are education, unemployment, poverty, war, physical and sexual violence, abortion, and family planning.

I first wrote this on May 26, 2014. I wanted it to pay tribute to all the Veteran’s I had the privilege of having been their physician. I am surprised we just started talking about the crisis with the VA Health System. Over the years my I have had many veterans come to me for care.  They felt it a privilege to have the VA there for them. They went to the VA to get their medications and major tests such as colonoscopies, cardiac catherizations , etc.  If they needed operative procedures, they wanted me to find them a local provider for a second opinion so they would not have to travel out-of-town. They all had Medicare or private insurance and were not solely reliant on the VA.

In 1990, when I was starting my practice, I had an influx of new patients.  I was surprised they chose to come to my office.  We need to realize that the VA has always had a shortage of doctors.  Now with two wars and a surge in numbers of soldiers with mental and physical injuries, they are overwhelmed.  Also many of these soldiers are unemployed and solely reliant on the VA system for care. Many of these new patients are women.  These are the first wars where we have had women serving at the front lines.  The VA system is more prepared for the male veteran.

I remember a patient with recurrent chest pain due to heart disease in need of a cardiac catherization.  He went to the VA and had it done.  I asked him the results.  It was difficult to get any reports at that time.  It is better now due to the conversion to an Electronic Health Record.  The VA has a very sophisticated system.  He said the doctor just said “You have a bad heart.”  He needed to have his procedure performed but he had several admissions for angina before it finally happened.  He had to wait.  Many are calling for investigations and hearings.  The VA needs providers.  Psychologists, psychiatrists, primary care providers (doctors, nurse practitioners) and they need to have an increase in female providers.

We do not need to privatize the system.  That is not the solution.  We just need to continue to recruit the best and the brightest healthcare providers. We need lots of them.  The VA does a tremendous job with the resources it has.  We need congress to do more.  The unemployment rate for veterans who have served since 9/11 was reported at 10 % in 2013.  That is a large influx of patients relying solely on the VA for care.  Each year, the number of discharged service men is reported to be as many as 360,000.

We need to honor their service by increasing funding. We need to speak up and use our power as voters in this next election.

Here are a few of my family members who served. We have a long history of service by both male and female family members.

Watching the video,  A Conversation About Growing Up Black,  brought tears to my eyes.  This one of  the difficult truths that comes with growing up for African-American  males in the US.

I left a General Surgery Residency, Continue reading →

March 8, 2015 is International Women’s Day.  The theme is “Make It Happen.” The women I have had the pleasure to know have always made it happen.  I want to highlight my many female physician colleagues.  They are from every medical specialty.  We all went to very different medical schools but our paths were similar.  They are in leadership positions or just stepping down and entering into a new career phase.  They are finally enjoying grandchildren, caring for aged parents or just taking the time to enjoy life. It is hard to believe I have known them all for over 25 years.  Over this year, I will profile some of these remarkable female physicians,

They have been role models for a generation of women.  Dr. M, a pediatrician, who I have known since I was a resident, is now caring for the children and even grandchildren  of many of her patients in a practice that is still  in her home.  Her place in the community has allowed her to be a physician, mother, friend, and teacher.

Dr. P, I met when I was rotating at the now closed children’s hospital. It was an inner city hospital that was on the forefront in the care of children life-threatening illnesses and the pediatric AIDS epidemic.  She is an Adolescent Medicine Specialist and book author.  The Adolescent Clinic provided primary care for teens specializing in AIDS care. She was a successful grant writer and many times was juggling multiple budgets successfully and writing research papers to keep the funding stream coming.

Dr. D was the first person to make sure I was welcomed when I joined my residency. She also stood up for me. She is the smartest person I know.  She went back to medical school at age 40. Her father was the first African-American physician allowed on staff at the hospital where we were training.  He was so proud the day she joined his practice.  It was a solo –practice in the home she grew up in.  She still has a practice there.  I have such pride in her resiliency.

Another colleague, Dr. C, from our residency just sold her practice to a large group.  Her practice was the first practice owned by an African-American female acquired by this large group.  Her goal was to have a successful practice and she wanted to integrate other like practices but many doctors did not share her vision.  She has a holistic approach to patient care. She did not give up but held onto her goal when she was working long hours.  Now her practice is expanding and not dying from the inability to recruit new physicians.  She is planning to get an MBA and continue to be a force of change.

The first few days of medical school would have been overwhelming but I was fortunate enough to meet Dr. V.  She has been my friend for over 30 years.  She is a dynamic person and an excellent physician.  She has a holistic approach to care and is fearless. She is now in transition by still fearless.  I am in awe of her courage to take a new direction in medical care.

So many of the women physicians I know are caring physicians, mothers, and wives; make significant contributions to the medical field and their communities.  We run and walk miles for all causes from breast cancer to heart disease.  We lecture in the community at schools and churches and spend hours volunteering for our professional and social organizations.

One of my male colleagues once said “the best thing that happened to medicine was when we made it easier for women to join the profession.”  Woman all over the world are making a difference and many at the risk of their lives.  I am inspired by each one of them and  honor their courage, persistence and dedication.

2014 was a challenging year. The weather stressed us all out. Every meeting I had was cancelled and rescheduled due to the snow.

In March, I hosted the family Easter dinner at my home.  It was a grand event. I cooked crawfish etouffee in honor of Aunt Tommie. I made her Gumbo again this year. She died from complications of Alzheimer’s just after Easter. We had a beautiful memorial service a few weeks later.

In May, I attended The Society for Teachers of Family Medicine meeting in San Antonio Texas. I was the moderator for the closing session and it was my final year serving on the program committee. Roy and I  drove to Austin and then to Dallas. We spent a few days with his sister and her husband in Irving.

June was a spectacular month. We traveled back to Birmingham for the Second Annual Giddens Family Reunion.     .

Like many of you my  heart has been so heavy after all the events over the summer. I have been posting  updates on the police shootings and protests. All the news coverage on the NFL and domestic violence was upsetting.  The news coverage on the deaths of the  police officers failed to emphasize the fact that the shooter suffered from mental illness.   It points to some upsetting truths about views on African-American males. Mental illness is either misdiagnosed or ignored.

I went way too long without a vacation after my last trip,   I spent the entire summer working on several projects. . In December, we spent a few days in Ocean City Maryland.  The weather was beautiful. We went to Assateague Island to see the wild horses. We traveled once again for Christmas. Fortunately, we spent New Year’s Eve at home trying to stay awake.  I made it.

Here’s to 2015.  In May, it will be 40 years since I graduated from Woodlawn High School. The Class of 1975 held the first integrated Senior Prom in the Gymnasium. In June, we will celebrate our 30^th wedding anniversary. It will also mark 25 years since I graduated from Residency and passed my first Family Medicine Board. I started my practice in Cambridge MD that year.

I hope that this year will bring enlightenment and a more intelligent discussion on race in America. I am looking forward to seeing “Selma” and Kevin Costner and Octavia Spencer in “Black or White.” These two movies highlight some important facts about race, civil rights and how much we all have in common. Also important is the fact they highlight what we can lose if we refuse to understand and support each other. We can lose our right to vote, die at the hands of someone who only sees the color of your skin and fears you.