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When Should Psychiatrists Retire?
In answer to the question in the title, I’ll confess right away I don’t know the answer. The impetus for my writing this post is the Medscape article about an 84-year-old physician who was forced to take a cognitive test required by her employer as a way of gauging her ability to continue working as…
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On Retiring from Psychiatry
I found this very uplifting and thought-provoking article on retiring from psychiatry by Juan C. Corvalan. He sounds like he’s successfully navigating his retirement. On the few occasions I’ve felt compelled to make a remark about my own retirement, I typically say something like “It’s a mixed blessing.” My retirement is a process, unfolding as…
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Food for Thought
I’m giving a shout-out to a couple of child psychiatrists, one I know only from a blog, The Good Enough Psychiatrist. The other is an assistant professor in the University of Iowa Child Psychiatry Dept. I’ve never met her. Since Jenna gives her name in the About Me section of her blog, I’m going to…
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Dr. Igor Galynker and The Suicidal Crisis Syndrome
I was looking at my bookshelves and found the copy of the book, “The Suicidal Crisis: Clinical Guide to the Assessment of Imminent Suicide Risk.” It was written by Dr. Igor Galynker. It’s a fit topic for this month because September is National Suicide Prevention Month. This brings back memories. I still have a gift…
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September is National Suicide Prevention Month
September is National Suicide Prevention Month. The 988lifeline website has many resources for getting the word out about the importance of not missing any opportunities to help prevent suicide. In fact, there is a recently published article entitled “Multiple Missed Opportunities for Suicide Risk Assessment in Emergency and Primary Care Settings.” A few of the…
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Stop Me If You Heard This One Before
I saw one of my favorite X-Files episodes the other night. It’s titled “Monday.” Mulder goes through the day repetitively doing the same things, including fumbling his chance to thwart a bank robber who blows up the bank and everyone in it, including Mulder. See the Wikipedia for a full spoiler alert but I’m going…
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This is National Suicide Prevention Week
Thanks to Dr. H. Steven Moffic for his Psychiatric Times article, “A Psychological Autopsy on My Only Patient Who Died by Suicide.” In it he describes his own experience with a patient who committed suicide. He also reminded us that this is National Suicide Prevention Week. It’s also National Suicide Prevention Month. The quote I’m…
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Should Doctors Be Funny?
I ran across an interesting Medscape article, “Should Doctors Be Funnier? These MDs Are Real Comedians.” I don’t know if they should be funny, but it probably wouldn’t hurt. I think a sense of humor is a good thing for anyone to have and it’s probably not that hard to develop. There’s even a Wikihow…
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Another Blast from the Past
Today is Labor Day, and I was looking at some of my old blog posts from my previous blog The Practical Psychosomaticist. I found one that I think I haven’t reposted on my current blog called “Going from Plan to Dirt.” It’s a funny post, at least I think so. It draws a comparison between…
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Why Can’t I Wear Blue After Labor Day?
I have a few thoughts on the upcoming Labor Day weekend. It occurs to me that Labor Day often evokes images of blue-collar workers. On the other hand, I think in a broader view of the holiday, most of us can think of ourselves as working toward improving our society no matter whether our jobs…
