Memories, Medicine & Moods
Blogs
- 2/23/2023
The other side of Roxham Road
A 41-year-old woman just switched to me after her obstetrician retired. She has had all her previous eleven babies at another hospital and I want to make her feel safe. My vacation starts tomorrow and not a moment too soon. I have compassion fatigue. - 1/9/2023
Crimes and misdemeanors
Dr. Perle Feldman finds herself in the middle of an ethical quagmire, when all she wanted to do was get her toenails painted. - 12/15/2022
Dirt, marriage and cataract surgery
A few years ago, I began to find it hard to drive at night. There were halos around the street lamps and I was experiencing more and more eye-strain. I went to see my ophthalmologist and unsurprisingly I had cataracts. - 11/30/2022
A profound response
A colleague texted me: “Have you read Ted Jablonski’s column this morning? I almost spit up my coffee, it’s so hilarious!” When I read the column I realized two things immediately: a) It was very, very funny, b) I had to try and write a response. - 10/30/2022
Perle Feldman drops the baby
This was the second month of my rotating internship and I was so excited to be doing my obstetrics rotation at St. Mary’s Hospital in Montreal. I was eager, scared and green as grass. - 10/20/2022
In praise of hands
While working with a first-year FM resident in L&D, we were about to sew up a straightforward second-degree tear, but she did not even know how to hold the needle driver properly. - 9/28/2022
My sister: A New Year’s meditation
At this time of year, during the High Holidays, we are encouraged to think about “Tikkun Olam,” the healing of the world. - 9/7/2022
Report from Burnoutville: Flexibility creates families out of teams
As I inch towards a peri-retirement, I am grateful for the long-standing flexibility my on-call group has used for many years—to the benefit of practitioners at many different stages in their careers. - 8/24/2022
Report from Burnoutville: To quit or not to quit?
In an exhausting time for doctors, the question of whether it's time to consider retiring can't help but arise. But what questions do docs need to consider before actually throwing in the towel? - 7/21/2022
Story time for patients who won't listen
My Family Medicine OB group has a group chat where we discuss what we euphemistically call “Patients of Note” i.e. the patients who are giving us nightmares. - 7/6/2022
Catch a falling baby
Beauty in this world needs protecting. Dr. Perle Feldman discusses a moment in obstetrics where, in an instant, she was able to provide that protection. - 6/3/2022
Hospital food: the good, the bad and the ugly
As a medical student, the cafeteria lunches and dinners outside the white table-clothed private staff dining room was usually some horrible variation of mystery meat in cream sauce.