FreshMD

Bumped.

2013-02-04T22:00:36-08:00

I've been sorting my photos from 2011, Year of Ilia Tove. It's taken me this long to get some perspective so that I can go in and prune some of the hundreds of newborn pictures. It does break my heart...

The shapes of stories

2013-01-31T09:26:17-08:00

I work with refugees, and many come with horrific stories of rape, kidnapping, imprisonment, torture. None of us at the clinic work full-time; we wouldn't last. Vicarious traumatization is a term coined by McCann and Pearlman in 1990 to describe...

Little bombs of revelation

2013-01-24T21:49:48-08:00

And how do these creative thoughts come? They come in a slow way. It is the little bomb of revelation bursting inside you. I found I never took a long, solitary walk without some of these silent, inward bombs bursting...

Testing the waters.

2013-01-17T13:59:53-08:00

Twin Lakes, Bend, Oregon. August 2012.

Feelings of loss post-partum

2011-07-10T21:32:23-07:00

When Ilia was a few weeks old, Pete asked, and said it so casually from the couch where he was reading after dinner, "Do you miss our old life?" . . . continued.

Kindness

2011-04-11T10:49:48-07:00

Last spring, my experience as physician, mother and patient intersected through a calamitous pregnancy loss. A few weeks ago (days after I delivered my daughter), my reflections on those events were published in CMAJ. As on-line access requires sign-in, I...

Ilia Tove Scholtens

2011-03-28T08:33:57-07:00

February 26 at 1:22 AM 7 lbs 8 oz More here.

One clinic day, three responses to my pregnancy

2011-02-06T22:10:17-08:00

I dislike that pregnancy forces me to bring my personal life into the office. I don't have pictures of my kids on my desk, I am vague when curious patients ask where I live and on Monday mornings I never...

Ten guidelines for medicine-life balance

2010-12-19T20:35:52-08:00

Right now, this month, seven years out of residency with a part-time position at the refugee clinic and three and three-quarters children, I have work-life balance. It's somewhat precarious, something that could be toppled by illness or an unbearable colleague...

Number four

2010-12-02T21:07:12-08:00

The immediate, unmistakable second pink line on the test laid on the bathroom counter - oh, the power of that pink line. The possibility that it stands for, the hope for a healthy pregnancy and a perfect newborn and another...

Metablogging

2010-10-07T09:40:28-07:00

It's Metablogging Week at Mothers in Medicine. Click here for my post on hate mail, non-anonymous blogging and a favourite comment.

I don't look twenty-two anymore

2010-06-17T11:13:39-07:00

And I'm fine with that (@ Mothers in Medicine).

What can still make a physician-mother squeamish

2010-04-08T08:29:03-07:00

New post up at Mothers in Medicine.

A day in the life

2009-12-09T14:02:45-08:00

The topic of the week at Mothers in Medicine is "A Day in the Life." Check out the typical day of a neurologist, pediatrician and internist. I describe a typical Tuesday at the refugee clinic here.

The antidote: knitting

2009-11-05T22:09:03-08:00

Post up at Mothers in Medicine on why I consider knitting the perfect antidote to medicine and parenting.

I put an embryo on a daycare waitlist

2009-09-16T22:21:45-07:00

September 2001 One year and three months into a two-year residency, I give birth to my daughter. I am eligible for one year of maternity leave, and have every intention of staying home with my sweet, big-eyed Saskia for all...

Looming deadline for professional success: age 40?

2009-07-26T21:32:37-07:00

The effective, moving, vitalizing work of the world is done between the ages of twenty-five and forty. - William Osler (1849-1919), renowned Canadian physician I turned thirty-five last month, and what struck me most was how odd it is that...

Dandelion poetry

2009-05-25T22:12:02-07:00

Thank you for all your kind comments and well wishes on the last post. As suggested, I plan to link to my Mothers in Medicine posts from here. There's a new one up today.

Finished

2009-05-18T22:10:01-07:00

When I began blogging, a family member unfamiliar with blogs looked over this site and said politely, "It looks nice. Is it almost finished?" Well, now it is. I feel hamstrung by the mix of personal and professional anecdotes under...

Baby names

2009-05-11T21:54:13-07:00

I have a post up at Mothers in Medicine on the medical implications of baby names, including my own close call with the name Claudia. (If you've been reading this blog since the beginning, you might remember I did another...