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Regina Benjamin, MD, Family Physician


I was pleasantly surprised when I turned on the TV at the noon hour to see the President nominate Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA to be the next Surgeon General. Since the election, there has been much speculation on who the next Surgeon General would be. And, even today, this news is probably going to be overshadowed by news like the President's nominee to the Supreme Court.

I just wanted to share an experience that I had with Dr. Benjamin which continues to inspire me today. If you didn't already know, Dr. Benjamin is a Family Physician (like I am). I first heard Dr. Benjamin's story when she was a keynote speaker at the 2006 American Academy of Family Physicians National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students. I chaired the planning committee that year. (I also moderated a panel that year. Click here to learn more about that).

To put this into context, this conference was almost exactly one year following Hurricane Katrina. I don't exactly remember the theme of the conference, but the concepts of service and helping those in need resonated in the selection of the speakers that year. The committee was very excited when Dr. Benjamin was able to be a speaker.

If you haven't already heard her story, I encourage you to read this article from the conference for a more complete compilation of her remarks. She founded a rural health clinic on Alabama's Gulf Coast in 1990. When she started to tell the story of Katrina and the aftermath, the room of medical students, residents, doctors, and guests, became silent hanging on her every word.

Family physicians are "truly blessed" by the trust that patients give them, said Benjamin, calling on residents and students to become leaders in their communities. Patients tell FPs their deepest, darkest secrets and allow them to hold their babies, she said. But with that gift of trust comes the responsibility to lead, she added.

"Kids look up to you, and as you continue to rise in your positions of leadership, you always have to reach back and pull someone else up with you," Benjamin said. A good leader will push those rising stars out in front and support them from behind, she added.

As she neared the end of her presentation, Benjamin encouraged her audience with these words: "It costs money to keep our doors open, but money isn't everything. We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give. The most valuable thing you can give is yourself."

There are many times on this blog when I have scoffed at government - especially at what it does and does not do. But, this time, I support Dr. Regina Benjamin and hope that she is confirmed to be the next Surgeon General. In her words at today's announcement, she said that she wants to become "America's Family Physician." I support her in this endeavor.

My only concern is how the White House utilizes her in seeking to pass their version of health care reform this year. A lot of docs, especially family docs like myself, will be watching this very closely. My hope is that Dr. Benjamin will continue to keep the patient first and not let politics get in the way of that.

Asthma TV News Spot


The video above is a local TV news spot that I did on Monday, May 18th, 2009 for the 5 o'clock newscast. This is a great opportunity I was given by the hospital. I think this figures out to be once every other month for me. Today's topic was asthma. It's been kind of frustrating for me, because on three other occasions, I was scheduled to be on, but for whatever reason, the segment was cancelled. So, that's why I really didn't mention things beforehand.

Last weekend, as I have done on three other occasions, I went through my slides that I was going to present. I rehearsed the pace at I was going to speak (I tend to talk fast when I get nervous) and rehearsed the inflections (I did not want to sound monotone), and of course, I rehearsed the content of the slides.

I thought that my almost 100 shows on live internet radio would prepare me for live TV. I was wrong. There were three cameras there and I got flustered as to which one I was supposed to talk in to - or was I supposed to talk to the camera - maybe just to the anchor.

It went by so fast. I really don't know what happened until the end. As I left the studio, everything felt ok. I mean I got all the content out there and I thought that I didn't talk too, too fast. Initial feedback has been positive. But, there are those "wise guy" people out there who said I looked fat or looked like I gained a lot of weight since they saw me previously. I guess you're gonna get that type of feedback. And, I guess maybe I could wear a darker color the next time - But, I like my red shirt!

Anyway, I post this for your curiosity. Feel free to leave comments below. I have to check my calendar the next time for when I have my next appearance. This was definitely a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to my next health segment on local TV news! (Originally posted 5/18/2009)

Happy Independence Day!


I always associate patriotic holidays like July 4th with Ray Charles and America The Beautiful. Before I head out for the day with friends and family to have a great time, I will say a prayer for all those who have given their lives for my freedom and I will think about all those men and women out there right now fighting for and defending my freedom. I hope you will, too. Have a Happy and Safe Independence Day!

Welcome Interns


With the beginning of July comes the beginning of a new academic year at the nation's residency programs. Ah, yes, the memories of the first day of internship as a young family medicine physician. Man, glad, I don't have to do that again - Sheesh! Above is a CNN story talking about one of the nation's newest physicians on her first day of work and telling a little bit about her life story.

Fireworks Injuries TV News Spot


What you'll see above is my 2nd interview on local TV news talking about health issues. In this spot, it starts out with a news item about fireworks sales and then I talk about some statistics about fireworks injuries along with some tips to follow for the Fourth Of july weekend to be safe.

You can also read about my own critique about this interview in another post. If you found this informative, I encourage you to check out my first TV news spot talking about asthma. Enjoy! (Originally posted on June 30, 2009)

Interview Critique


In the video above, you'll see and hear my thoughts on my latest local TV news spot talking about fireworks safety. This interview is following a long seven days of working which included a Joint Commission survey - as I mentioned in this post - was pretty stressful for me. And, in addition to that, I was on call this past weekend.

But despite that, and feeling fatigued, I felt that I was ready for this interview. I have been through this before - well once - with my interview about asthma. As you can see in the "before" video above, I felt pretty confident with the material. I practiced to myself more than a few times in the car driving up to the TV station. Did I mention that this was live and there was no "take two" possible?

So, I get at the TV station in plenty of time. I check in at the front desk, and almost immediately, I'm whisked back to the studio. It was pretty cool seeing how the news is produced. I saw the anchor reading from the teleprompter and saw some of the behind the scenes stuff.

Then, the anchor comes and sits at the interview table with me and I get a microphone. I thought that was unusual because my segment is not usually for another 5-7 minutes. At least, I told my friends and family that I was going to be on at about 5:15pm. The first story that you'll see in the video, is a story about fireworks sales. The dummy that I am, I didn't put it together that THIS was my segment as well.

So, breaking things down in more detail that you probably want to know, the first thing you'll see is me sitting up in my chair and gathering my thoughts and trying to recall my slides in my head when the anchor asks me the first question. What you will not see during the entire interview is my hands - because they are holding a pop can - because I thought I wasn't going on for another five minutes. I thought about dropping the can, but I knew that wouldn't be cool. So, I just went with it.

As I left the studio, I thought I did ok (and I recorded the "after" video above). My family called and told me I did a great job - what a great family! Then, I got home and looked at it for the first time with my own eyes. The material I presented was good, but I wasn't as animated as I was for my first interview. I learned a definite lesson today - just be ready for anything when it comes to media - whether it be TV, or radio, or live podcasting.

My next TV spot won't be for about three weeks. It's still a learning process for me, but I'm still having a great time. I definitely can do better, and I will. Thanks for all the support I've received from all of you out there. I appreciate it. You're the best!

Podcamp Ohio 2: Pre-Lunch


This is the next random video from the Podcamp Ohio registration desk including discsussions about wedding rings, Devo, doing the cabbage patch dance, a quick interview with Brandice about how the morning was going, and a view of the lunch food line. Exciting, isn't it? Enjoy!

The Joint Commission Experience


Some people have asked me what I did last week and what this "Joint Commission" thing is. Especially if you see patients in the hospital on a daily basis, hearing the words "The Joint Commission" (TJC) should make you a little tense.

For lack of a better term, TJC is a regulatory agency who inspects hospitals every three years or so to review hospital policies and procedures to maximize patient safety. Unfortunately, what is covered in the news a lot are patients sometimes accidentally harmed when they come to the hospital. How can this happen you ask? Most times, it is the breakdown of processes that occur in the hospital - in addition to human error.

Anyway, TJC comes to hospital unannounced to conduct their survey. So, for the past year or so, the hospital has been preparing (by reviewing and updating policies and procedures) and wondering when TJC was going to stop by. It happened last week.

Being the Chief of Staff for the docs of my hospital, I'm one of the people that the TJC reviewers talk to - so needless to say, my stress level was pretty high last week. They were at the hospital for three and a half days. And, the hospital senior leadership staff was on pins and needles while talking to these people wondering what they were going to scrutinize next.

In addition, I felt bad for my patients, because I had to cancel my office hours for most of the week. I thought that I could just shift my office schedule, but, at times, meetings at the hospital were moved to a different time. So, I just had to cancel an entire morning or afternoon at times. I felt bad about that.

When Friday morning came, the stress started to let up a little bit as this was the last day of the survey. The preliminary feedback was good, but the final report will come back in a couple of weeks. Overall, I'm proud in how the hospital presented itself. We know that we do good work, but to receive initial positive feedback from TJC gave everyone a sigh of relief.

Unfortunately, instead of celebrating on Friday afternoon, I got ready for a weekend on call. But, hey, I'm not looking for sympathy here. As I tell everybody, it's tough being awesome. And, if this is the price for being awesome, then, I'll take it. HA!

Podcamp Ohio 2: Registration Desk


In this video from Podcamp Ohio 2, who is rockin the registration desk again this year? That's right! It's me - and some of my closest #pco09 friends. I finally got to meet drew who has been a fan of my show for a long time. We had a great discussion about the type of work that he does - specifically wound care. I'm going to have him on the show to talk about this and other topics. The rest of this video, you'll see what happens behind the scenes of the Podcamp Ohio 2 registration desk. Don't worry, more videos to come soon. Enjoy!