Heal Thyself: When Work Hits Home

— Your own life hangs on your expertise

MedpageToday

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Thank you for joining us here on Anamnesis, a medical storytelling podcast by MedPage Today.

For those of you who know us -- you know the drill, we bring you stories every month by people in medicine, on stories about medicine, based around a theme that unifies us all.

These themes are not "science" or "medicine" in the traditional sense of setting clinical practice guidelines or announcing the latest research, but they are themes on the deeper meaning and connections we all have, that we've all experienced.

It's that moment that catches your breath, that makes you pause, that bubbles up from the inside of you. These are the moments that make us introspect. That make us reflect.

These are the moments that connect us together as humans, related to one another by this complicated life of medicine we've all chosen.

We usually focus on patient stories -- after all, as healthcare providers, we really exist to serve our patients.

But what happens when you become the patient?

That's what we're here to explore today -- with this episode's theme: Heal Thyself.

Think about it. We diagnose and often intervene with medicines, surgeries, treatments. These interventions generally temporize and support the body, so that the body can heal itself.

The concept of "healing" thyself, then, really does often have to accept that modern medicine can't do the healing. Sometimes we have to do it ourselves.

And sometimes that's more mind than matter.

Today, we have three incredible stories for you -- by three different doctors, of three different specialties, who all share a story of how they "Healed Thyself" of a disease in their very area of expertise.

Chapter 1. Researcher Turned COVID Long-Hauler (3:04) -- A story of knowledge and recovery. Story by Paul Garner, MD.

Chapter 2. I'm a Neurologist With Alzheimer's (15:52) -- How knowledge helped one doctor's uncertainty. Story by Daniel Gibbs, MD, PhD.

Chapter 3. Prayer's Place in Treatment (25:50) -- "Dr. Hope" credits his remission, in part, to tens of thousands of strangers. Story by Gary Onik, MD.

Episode produced by Judy George

Hosted by Amy Ho, MD

Sound engineering by Greg Laub

Theme music by Palomar

Want to share your story? Read the Anamnesis Storyteller Tip Sheet, and when you're ready, apply here!