Science Magazine is one of my favorite publications, mostly for the pictures, and I also enjoy the “Working life” essay which appears at the end of each issue. This week’s Science piece was entitled “Lab meetings shouldn’t feel intimidating. Here’s how I’ve changed mine,” by Georgia Fousteri PhD, a researcher in Milan, Italy. She writes,Continue reading “A 20-minute team building session”
Author Archives: Philip A. Lederer MD
Walking club at Upham’s Corner
We had our first walking club of 2022 yesterday at Upham’s Corner health center. Check out some photos from our 35 minute stroll around beautiful, historic Dorchester. We even were able to see the ocean! The walking club leaves from the front of the health center every Tuesday at 12:30 PM. We can regain ourContinue reading “Walking club at Upham’s Corner”
Thich Nhat Hanh, dead at 95
Thich Nhat Hanh, the well-known Zen master, died recently in Vietnam at the temple where he lived. An author, poet and teacher, he spoke about “engaged Buddhism,” applying Buddhist principles to social issues and in daily life. But what does this really mean, and how can people who don’t identify as Buddhists learn from ThichContinue reading “Thich Nhat Hanh, dead at 95”
Blurred Vision and Bleeding
I recently looked at the JAMA clinical challenge, written by Drs Bradley Christensen, Hsiao Li, and Sergio Huerta, entitled “Blurred Vision and Gastrointestinal Bleeding in a Patient with HIV.” The case described the situation of a 57-year-old man with five months of epigastric pain and 15 pound weight loss, HIV/AIDS with a CD4 of 16,Continue reading “Blurred Vision and Bleeding”
The Myth of Mental Illness
Earlier today, I sat in the fifth row at Boston’s Symphony Hall, next to my seventy-one year old mother, and we watched and listened as the Me/2 Orchestra performed selections by Berlioz, Elgar, Rossini, Grieg, Beethoven, and Milad Yousufi, a young Afghan composer. It was an inspirational, yet odd experience to be in the audience,Continue reading “The Myth of Mental Illness”
Barefoot Jogging
I recently enrolled in Colin Turner’s excellent twelve week running course here in Boston. Colin, a former college track and cross country star at College of Wooster, brings an infectious, positive attitude to his teaching. Our cohort of students are learning about everything from exercise physiology to running gear, and study technique of elite marathonersContinue reading “Barefoot Jogging”
Sexual Health
In medicine, we are often focused on sickness and disease rather than wellness and prevention. How much time in medical school do we spend learning about HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia for example, rather than the biopsychosocial and cultural aspects of sexual health? I know medical school isn’t about training anthropologists, but the social sciencesContinue reading “Sexual Health”
Continuing Medical Education
When I graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 2008, there was no SARS Cov-2 virus. We still treated hepatitis C with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. We didn’t have the glp-1 agonists like dulaglutide to treat diabetes, or continuous glucose monitoring devices. Medicine is constantly changing, and clinicians struggle to stay up-to-dateContinue reading “Continuing Medical Education”
James Hakim
I stood in front of the Massachusetts State House yesterday, a sunny, windy Martin Luther King Jr day. The state police officers had returned to their vehicle and I breathed deeply, then started reading the names of the COVID dead once more. Martha stood next to me, a brave family physician trained in the MontefioreContinue reading “James Hakim”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Boston
In 1963, my aunt, Mary Ann Lederer, and my father, Albert, traveled from Cincinnati to Washington DC to attend the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Together, they heard Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s famous speech, “I have a Dream.” Then in 1965, in the wake of “Bloody Sunday” on the Edmund Pettus Bridge,Continue reading “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Boston”
Philip A. Lederer 