Are Hospital Wellness Initiatives Making Doctor Burnout Worse?

A Physician Suggests Encouraging His Colleagues to Explore, Reflect, and Talk About Their Feelings

This article is a co-publication of Zócalo Public Square and State of Mind, a partnership of Slate and Arizona State University focused on covering mental health.

In early 2020, weeks before Covid changed our lives, I sat uneasily with a dear medical school friend, listening to a panel of experts discuss burnout, moral injury, and wellness. The speakers focused on categorizing and describing these terms, recited research and data, and prescribed self-care strategies, including a healthy diet, exercise, yoga, and mindfulness. Many colleagues found these sessions helpful. I left …

Curing My Daughter’s Colic

A Pediatrician and First-Time Mom Confronts the Limits of Medicine and Learns the First of Many Parenting Lessons

I should have seen this coming. I was too lucky during pregnancy, contending only with a few weeks of morning sickness and a bout of sciatica. By week 37, I …

What Do We Owe Doctors and Nurses? | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

What Do We Owe Doctors and Nurses?

The Virus Has Exposed the Weaknesses of American Healthcare; to Build a Stronger System We Need to Care for Caregivers

In late March, a mutual friend of ours called with a grim picture of the situation on the ground at the Queens hospital where he works. New York City had …

The Healthiest Californians Are the Ones Who Are Healthy Together

Immigrants Live Longer and Better Than the Native Born Because Community Heals in Ways Medicine Does Not

Immigrants bring cultural practices that could improve our health systems and the health of all Californians—if we do more to understand and deploy the advantages of cultural diversity, said a …

Community Organizer Luz Gallegos

My Hidden Talent is Singing

Luz Gallegos is the Community Program Director at TODEC Legal Center, one of the Inland Empire area’s leading immigrant-assistance organizations. A community organizer and advocate since childhood, she focuses on …

Research Economist John Husing

When I Ran a Casino I Was on the Dance Floor Every Night

Dr. John Husing is a research economist who has studied Southern California’s growing economy since 1964. He has produced city- and county-specific economic development strategies for the region’s local governments …