Medical Leadership Without the Ego: Lessons from the ER and Beyond
Leading in the Middle of the Storm There’s no such thing as a quiet shift in the ER. You may start the day with manageable cases, but within an hour, the pace can explode. When things heat up—multiple traumas rolling in, staff short-staffed, tensions high—everyone looks for someone to lead. What I’ve learned over the […]
Raising Resilient Children While Working Emergency Shifts
Living Two Lives at Once Working as an emergency physician is demanding. The hours are long, the shifts are unpredictable, and the emotional toll can be heavy. But being a father has always been my most important job, even when the pager was buzzing and the ER was full. Trying to balance both hasn’t always […]
Faith in the Trenches: How Spirituality and Medicine Intersect in Real Life Faith Where the Rubber Meets the Road
When people hear that I’m both a man of faith and a practicing emergency room physician, they sometimes imagine those two worlds living in separate boxes. One box for Sunday mornings and another for weekday trauma calls. But the truth is, they are deeply intertwined. My faith doesn’t sit off to the side. It walks […]
The Music Between the Madness: How Playing Guitar Helps Me Unwind After the ER
A Place to Breathe Working in the emergency room is a life of constant motion. There’s rarely a moment to catch your breath. The sounds, the tension, the flood of emotion—you carry it with you long after your shift ends. Some people think you get used to it over time, but I don’t think that’s […]
From Biochemistry to Bedside: How Education Shaped My Career in Emergency Medicine
The Road to the ER Started Long Before Medical School People often assume that my journey into emergency medicine began in medical school, but the truth is, it started much earlier—back in classrooms where I was just beginning to understand how the world worked. I’ve always been drawn to the “why” behind things. That curiosity […]
Faith on the Night Shift: How Belief Sustains Me in Medicine
There’s something unique about working night shifts in the emergency room. The halls are quieter, the lights a little dimmer, and everything feels just a bit more raw. At two in the morning, people don’t have the same filters they do during the day. You see fear, pain, confusion—and sometimes hope—in their truest forms. For […]
Balancing Grit and Grace: Finding Compassion in a High-Pressure Career
Emergency medicine is not for the faint of heart. It demands quick decisions, long hours, and the ability to move on from hard moments with little time to process them. Over the years, I’ve had people ask me, “How do you do it? How do you keep going without becoming numb?” The truth is, there’s […]
Staying Sharp in the ER: Lessons from Nearly Three Decades on the Frontlines
It’s hard to believe I’ve been practicing emergency medicine for nearly 30 years. I’ve seen a lot over the years—some things I’ll never forget, some things I try to forget, and a whole lot in between. Through it all, one thing has stayed the same: the ER is unpredictable, fast-paced, and demanding. It requires your […]
The Art of Rapid Decision-Making: How ER Physicians Manage High-Stakes Situations
If you’ve ever found yourself in an emergency room—whether as a patient, family member, or provider—you already know how fast things can move. Decisions that in other settings might take hours or days often need to be made in seconds. I’ve spent nearly three decades working as an ER physician, and one of the most […]