Every Story Counts: Exploring Contemporary Practice Through Narrative Medicine
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Discover the profound significance of storytelling and narrative in the medical field with, Every Story Counts: Exploring Contemporary Practice Through Narrative Medicine, by Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA, CPE. A renowned physician and business professional, Lazarus delves into the challenges faced by doctors in an ever-evolving social, cultural, and political landscape.
The book is divided into six sections:
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Section 1: Physician Issues
Section 2: Professional Development
Section 3: Education and Training
Section 4: Health Policy
Section 5: Patient Care
Section 6: Practice Management
Through this compelling work, medical professionals are empowered to navigate the complexities of modern practice by embracing self-reflection and adhering to a moral compass grounded in integrity, forgiveness, and compassion.
The book caters primarily to American physicians and physicians-in-training, offering them invaluable insights. Additionally, healthcare leaders, administrators, regulators, policymakers, allied health professionals, medical educators, historians, economists, and international readers interested in understanding the American healthcare system and its shortcomings will find this book informative.
Lazarus sheds light on prevalent issues such as career stagnation, burnout, moral injury, and unfulfilled professional potential. Drawing from personal experiences and encounters with various health systems, he provides a realistic evaluation of contemporary medical practice. Moreover, he highlights the significance of physician leaders and their impact on nonphysician colleagues, emphasizes the importance of physician advocacy, and condemns aggression and incivility in medicine.
The book explores physicians' experiences, contrasting their struggles with maladaptive behaviors that lead to depression, suicide, PTSD, imposter syndrome, and substance use disorders. It emphasizes the healing power of resilience, relaxation, introspection, mentorship, and the practice of narrative medicine writing. Additionally, it discusses nonclinical career alternatives and the transition from medicine to management, while also addressing emerging trends in governance and artificial intelligence.
For physicians, this book serves as a source of empowerment, self-actualization, self-awareness, and affirmation through shared experiences. It provides career insights spanning both practice and industry, offering moving and impactful stories that resonate from the bedside to the boardroom. Regardless of age or career stage, readers will find practical advice applicable to their training and practice.
About the author
Arthur L. Lazarus, MD, MBA, CPE, DFAAPL, DLFAPA, is a healthcare consultant, certified physician executive, and nationally recognized author, speaker, and champion of physician leadership and wellness. He has broad experience in clinical practice and the health insurance industry, having led programs at Cigna and Humana. At Humana, Lazarus was vice president and corporate medical director of behavioral health operations in Louisville, Kentucky, and subsequently a population health medical director for the state of Florida.
Lazarus has also held leadership positions in several pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer and AstraZeneca, conducting clinical trials, and reviewing promotional material for medical accuracy and FDA compliance. He has published more than 250 articles in scientific and professional journals and has written four books, including Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome and Related Conditions, Controversies in Managed Mental Health Care, Career Pathways in Psychiatry, and MD/MBA: Physicians on the New Frontier of Medical Management.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Lazarus attended Boston University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology with Distinction. He received his medical degree with Honors from Temple University School of Medicine, followed by a psychiatric residency at Temple University Hospital, where he was chief resident. After residency, Lazarus joined the faculty of Temple University School of Medicine, where he currently serves as adjunct professor of Psychiatry. He also holds non-faculty appointments as Executive-in-Residence at Temple University Fox School of Business and Management, where he received his MBA degree, and Senior Fellow, Jefferson College of Population Health, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Well known for his leadership and medical management skills, Lazarus is a sought-after presenter, mentor, teacher, and writer. He has shared his expertise and perspective at numerous local, national, and international meetings and seminars.
Lazarus is a past president of the American Association of Psychiatric Administrators, a former member of the board of directors of the American Association for Physician Leadership (AAPL), and a current member of the AAPL editorial review board. In 2010, the American Psychiatric Association honored Lazarus with the Administrative Psychiatry Award for his effectiveness as an administrator of major mental health programs and expanding the body of knowledge of management science in mental health services delivery systems.
Lazarus is among a select group of physicians in the United States who have been inducted into both the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society and the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society of collegiate schools of business.
Lazarus lives with his wife near Charlotte, North Carolina. They have four adult children. He enjoys walking, biking, playing piano, and listening to music.
Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Foreword by Peter B. Angood, MD
- Preface
- Section 1: Physician Issues
- I Am Not What Others Think of Me
- Some Doctors Need Lessons in Civility
- Physicians Attacking Physicians Online: Trauma of the Second Order
- My Biggest Blind Spot Is Me
- Job Crisis: The Opportunity of a Lifetime
- Surviving Annual Performance Reviews
- When Retirement Is Code for “You’re Fired”
- Is Your Medical Specialty Sustainable?
- The “Golden Consult” Revisited
- Call Me In, Not Out, for My Transgressions
- Like Many Physicians, I’ve Forgotten How to Relax
- Does Ageism Lurk Behind Mandatory Retirement for Physicians?
- The Benefits of Facing Mortality
- Section 2: Professional Development
- The First Time I Felt Like a Doctor
- Impact of Imposter Syndrome on Physicians’ Practice and Leadership Development
- Chief Wellness Officer: New Opportunity, Necessary Role
- Mental Health: The New “Coming Out” in Medicine
- Are Your Hobbies Connected to Your Specialty?
- Create a New Medical Reality
- Discouraging Our Children from Becoming Doctors
- Going Mobile – An Antidote for Career Regret
- Medical Leaders Must Show Their True Colors
- I May Be Old School, but I’m Not Outdated
- The Jobs You Hold Prior To Medical School Are Important, But Not for the Reason You Think
- When Being a Physician Leads to PTSD
- Trauma Motivated Me to Become a Doctor
- Avoid Burnout by Finding Your Fit in the Organization
- Section 3: Education and Training
- The Not-So-Private Lives of Young Physicians
- Breaking Point
- Coping with Rejection Requires Resilience
- Medical Education Needs a Tune-Up
- We Shouldn’t Let Case Reports Become a Lost Art
- Is It Really a Woke Nightmare for Medical Schools?
- The Decline of Whole Person Treatment in Modern Medicine
- Faking Your Way Through Medical School
- Why Not Do Your Residency Where You Went to Medical School?
- The Anatomy of a Mentor/Mentee Relationship
- A Mentor’s Legacy in Medicine, Leadership, and Embracing Evidence-based Care
- The Importance of Soft Skills for Job Success
- Section 4: Health Policy
- The Value of Physician Leaders to Nonphysician Coworkers
- Healthcare Organizations Are All Talk, No Collaboration
- It’s Time to Stop the Pharmaceutical Marketing Money Machine
- If Simone Biles Were a Doctor She Would be Vilified, Not Praised
- Whatever Happened to Professional Courtesy?
- Why Can’t We Say the Word “Suicide?”
- Utilization Management Is Medicine’s Great Conspiracy Theory
- Should Consumers Decide the Fate of Medical School Applicants?
- If You Don’t Practice, Don’t Move, Or You’ll Probably Lose Your License
- “Political Creep”: Government Intrusion in Healthcare
- Stop Passing Off Politics as Evidence-Based Medicine
- The Incessant Hounding of Doctors
- Section 5: Patient Care
- Prior Authorization Is Causing Even More Headaches than EHR
- Psychiatry and Sexism: Gender Diagnosis in Borderline Personality Disorder?
- Medical Translation Sacrifices Accuracy for Understanding
- Do Microaggressions Persist After Practice?
- Tele-Mental Health Is All the Rage
- Treatment Is a Two-Way Street
- Allegory Is a Powerful Tool in Medicine
- Understanding Patients’ Religious and Spiritual Beliefs Promotes Healing
- What Does It Mean When We Say Someone Has Died After a Long Illness?
- Don’t Let Vindictiveness Creep into Medicine Like It Has in Politics
- Section 6: Practice Management
- I Retired After Being Punished for Speaking Out. Now I Can Speak My Mind.
- Is Fear of Retaliation Silencing Doctors?
- Professional Courtesy Means Being a “Doctor’s Doctor”
- A Message to Physician Job Recruiters: First Impressions Count
- Is It Time to Explore Alternative and Encore Careers?
- Artificial Intelligence Is Worse Than the Old Boss
- Human Touch and Veracity Are Missing in Healthcare Technology
- There’s More to Medical Practice Than Meets the Eye
- Gil Scott-Heron’s “Winer in America” Is Upon Us
- Are Physicians with MBAs Traitors to Healthcare?
- When an MBA Degree Meets Medicine: An Eye-Opening Experience
- Medicine Is a Joke, Except No One Is Laughing
- How Can There Be Joy in Medicine if There Is No Joy in Mudville?
- Narrative Medicine Writing Saved My Sanity
- Afterword
- On the Road to Discovery
- Notes and Sources
