Category Archive

Sharing an essay by a brave mother in medicine

Pierre Van Zyl18th October 2019essay, K. Hope Wilkinson, kids in residency, residency, special needs

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I am thrilled to share this powerful essay by physician mom K. Hope Wilkinson. In “I’d Rather Be Dead”, published in the October 2019 issue of the Journal of Graduate Medical Education, she writes honestly about the attitudes she encountered after the …

Exceptionality

Pierre Van Zyl6th December 2018appreciation, Kicks, residency

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I learned a beautiful new word this week – exceptionalityI am on my community health rotation. One of the best parts of being a resident are the off-service rotations, which means less time at the grindstone of patient care after learning after patient…

Exceptionality

Pierre Van Zyl6th December 2018appreciation, Kicks, residency

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A Beloved Mentor Falls

Pierre Van Zyl8th November 2018being a patient, family, ICU, illness, mentors, our partners, PracticeBalance, residency, sadness

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I walk by the closed double doors and frosty windows of the ICU. Youâ€™re lying in there, intubated. It feels weird to go to work now. I canâ€™t see you or talk to you, donâ€™t know the drips, donâ€™t know the plan… and itâ€™s killing me. I, along wi…

Intern Year Recap

Pierre Van Zyl12th June 2018boxes, intern year, kids in training, positive thinking, residency

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Intern Year RecapAs my kids end school and I start power- reading to get ready to be a 2nd year resident, I want to take a chance to recap this crazy roller coaster/ transformative/ at times impossible/ at time inspirational year.Top 10 ways to rock in…

Open or closed? How do you deal with emotions?

Pierre Van Zyl19th April 2018communication, emotions, marriage, residency

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My whole life is organized into boxes. (ie, my blog name). I like to compartmentalize, keep work and home life separate, keep public me and private me separate, emotional me and getting-through-the-day me separate. Usually, this works. I can be the hap…

Adventures in Pumping

Pierre Van Zyl22nd February 2018having kids during training, Kicks, kids in residency, motherhood, pumping, residency

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Life is going pretty great for Team Kicks. Baby is almost 4 months old and is a complete joy. He has a sweet easygoing temperament and *usually* sleeps through the night. We are so spoiled and it is so easy to leave work behind and come home and cook d…

Tales from intern year

Pierre Van Zyl23rd January 2018becoming a doctor, Mrs MD PhD, residency, resident

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I am now several months into intern year. The first few weeks… months… of intern year almost seemed like a daze. Wake up. Work. Eat, sometimes. Sleep, maybe. Rinse and repeat. It was only a few short months ago, which almost seems like a lifetim…

Chocolate Sprinkle Sandwhiches

Pierre Van Zyl29th December 2017boxes, dinner, kids in residency, kids in training, residency, resident

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I cannot believe it has been so many months since a post. A quick update…1) Biking to work is so unbelievable. When we moved across the country, one promise I made myself was that if I had to fly 3000 miles to train in my dream specialty, there was n…