Since my last post – an opinion survey about the increasing practice of live-tweeting speakers’ slides – I’ve been taking some time to reflect, recharge, and realign my life.  In academic medicine, July is a bit like New Year’s Eve, so it is the time I evaluate, celebrate, and strategize.  Here’s a quick update about what I’ve been doing, and what’s coming up.

There is just so much to be excited about! You know I rarely post about myself, so this will be a departure from the usual topics, and I hope you’ll enjoy it. In a flurry of personal and family activities I’ve spent the past few weeks:

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My family

Celebrating my “baby” brother’s wedding (now in his mid-30s), my wedding anniversary, and many birthdays – my own, and that of my husband, son, sister, father, and two sisters-in-law.

I took up three totally new hobbies – painting, golf, and gardening – and I’ve been having fun, learning, and stretching my experience and my comfort zone. My paintings, though not museum-worthy, get rave reviews (at least, from my 5-year-old son and 2 year-old daughter).

PicMonkey Collage Pinots Pallet

I played my first 18 hole round ever on the famous Jack Nicklaus Turtle Point course in Kiawah.  I lost track of my score, but I survived the alligators!

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My mint, basil, and cucumbers are thriving, but my heirloom pumpkins have yet to yield a single fruit.  Oh well – maybe next year.

I’ve doubled up on the time I spend cuddling my kiddos. I set a new 5K PR. My husband and I built a fabulous swing to enjoy the sunset from our back patio.

relaxing on a porch swing

 

But it hasn’t  all been play!  I’ve been working quite a bit, too.   In July, I gave Grand Rounds at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

MGH speakerThis was both an honor and a time for nostalgia, since I haven’t been back to Boston since I left MGH after residency.  It was a treat to reconnect with my mentors and teachers, and to reflect upon the unexpected twists and turns my career has taken over the years.  I have so much gratitude for the amazing people who invested in and believed in me.

I published a research study in Anesthesiology and an editorial in Simulation in Healthcare, and presented a few sessions at the Carolina Refresher Course in late June.   We also just wrapped a podcast for Anesthesiology News (listen here to Part 1 and Part 2)  about the effect of adverse events on physicians and subsequent patients.

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And, we’re in the planning process for a webcast with the NC Hospital Association to tackle the topic of patient advocacy in error prevention.

Then, on a whim, I surprised even myself!  A great mentor once told me that the best way to truly learn and master a subject is to teach it. With that in mind – and in response to the growing number of peers and trainees who have asked me for help with time management and tips for “doing it all” – I created a Time Mastery curriculum in the form of a web course now available on Udemy.  Over 1700 have taken the course so far! As a special thank you for my interested readers, you can click this link to save 70% off the tuition price.  If you take the class, please leave me your feedback.  It is a synthesis of many powerful lessons of classic books and modern leaders, and it contains strategies that have changed my life for the better.

Finally, I have been spending a LOT of time in the operating room taking care of patients. It is, after all, the “killing season” – the time in hospitals across the country in which medical students become doctors, and junior doctors become supervising residents, and graduating residents become supervising attending physicians. This cohort turnover is naturally associated with a loss of efficiency, increased potential for errors, and the discomfort of new environments, new responsibilities, and new team relationships. We’ve just completed an article on this topic, so stay tuned for a blog post on this in the coming weeks.

Looking forward, I anticipate some incredible weeks to come.

I’ll be speaking in London the first week of September at the Behavioral Exchange Conference, with amazing thought leaders including Steven Pinker, Dan Ariely, Richard Thaler, and Daniel Kahneman.   I am so excited about this, I can barely stand it.  (!!!)

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BX2015 speakers

 

Later that month, I’ll be speaking in Stockholm at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Swedish Society of Anesthesia and Intensive Care,

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and finally, at Stanford Medicine X.

Stanford Medicine X 2015

 

Although I’m fortunate to be invited to present at these fantastic events, I’ll bet that listening to the rest of the presentations and meeting the people behind them could inspire enough to fill this blog for a year.

With that in mind, I’m looking forward to a stimulating and educational fall, and I promise to share what I learn about behavioral psychology, medicine, leadership, and personal development with you, right here on the blog.  Please bear with me if the travel prevents me from updating each week.

Whew!  Well, that’s the scoop for me – thank you for reading and sharing in my recap.   What has been the most noteworthy moment(s) of the past year for you? 

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© 2019 Marjorie Stiegler MD                    

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