The good thing about vacation is that time off is essential. The bad thing is the reentry, which, lately, is harried enough to induce arrhythmia. Almost. Thankfully, I made it through the reentry week and now sit in peace on Saturday morning with my MacBook. I thought I would tell you a little about my […]
Category: Reflection
This is a very short story about a baby bird, a yoga mom and a hawk. I tell it because it made me think about the disordered way we frame healthcare decisions. **** The neighborhood is one of old brick houses, cracked cement sidewalks and tall trees. What was once a suburb is now a […]
Categories
Mother’s Day…2014
As I return home from the Heart Rhythm Society sessions in San Francisco this Mother’s Day, I got to thinking about my mom. Here I am, a cardiac electrophysiologist, a doctor. I’m traveling to meetings, learning to write commentary, making friends with colleagues across the globe. How did this happen? Surely with great luck, but, […]
I just arrived in San Francisco. I am here for the 2014 Heart Rhythm Society sessions. The meeting begins today. A poster session this evening is overflowing with notable studies. Stay tuned. I’ll be working hard for theheart.org to bring you the best stories. First, though, here’s a little appetizer. On the eve of the […]
Patterns. As a doctor, you learn to see patterns. Biologists call the patterns of organisms phenotype–as opposed to genotype, the genetic makeup. For twenty years, I have observed the phenotypes (patterns) of people afflicted with AF, and have come to believe, and data are beginning to confirm, that the disease doesn’t just happen. It’s not […]
One of the selfish reasons I love being a physician is the honor of being included in such a respectable group. Doctors are good people, smart people, dedicated people. These are my colleagues, my mates, my fraternity. This attachment to the honor of doctoring is why it pains me when we hurt ourselves with our […]
Hey all, I’ve hit a little tough patch in the area of writing. Simply said, it’s been difficult finding the time in recent weeks. That’s the funny thing about writing, the more I do it, the harder it gets. It takes longer now. So…In an effort to just feel better, and, because this is a […]
Categories
Vacation Time
Hey all, The Mandrola family Spring break this year coincided with the American College of Cardiology 2014 Scientific Sessions. We are on a college tour in California. The cardiology community is in Washington DC. If you are interested in following ACC news, I’d recommend my colleagues and friends over at theHeart.org | Medscape/Cardiology. The ACC […]
The thing about people who ride bikes is… …we are people. Human beings. The life of a person on a bike depends on the humanity and compassion of motorists. Here is a poignant 4:42 second video that I hope you will watch, and then share with others. (After the video is a post I wrote […]
Categories
Small things, big things
I ran up the hill. It seemed shorter, and less steep than I had remembered. I was barely winded at the top. I looked into the front office windows as I ran by the old high school. I don’t run fast anymore, yet the image was gone in seconds. My memory had the building as […]
For me, maybe you too, the best part about science is how it disrupts the status quo. A belief, a way of doing something, a paradigm if you will, becomes entrenched. Humans love patterns. We get attached. I call this the way-it’s-always-been-done philosophy. It’s endemic in medicine, and, from what I can see, in education […]