I haven’t done one of these year-end round-ups before, but given 2022 marked the five year anniversary of the blog, it seemed a good year to start.
For each post, I’ve selected a favorite passage to highlight (different from the preview passage you’ll see on the home page).
First, the top five most read blog posts of 2022 (as determined by Google analytics):
1. Is Resentment the Ugly Stepsister to Perfectionism? Why Challenging Patients Can Trigger Resentment in Doctors and Nurses
“Perhaps challenging patients can engender resentment because they make us feel like we’re not living up to our own unrealistic expectations. And in that case, we need to change our unrealistic expectations for ourselves.”
2. Under the Surface, an Oncologist’s Reflection on the Movie Encanto
“We are more than bodies who accomplish tasks. We are wholehearted people who need connection. And sometimes, we cry.”
3. We All Struggle With the Unwritten Rules of Medical Culture
“I was in a new environment and somehow expected to know the rules without anyone telling me; and when I didn’t know, people treated me like I’d done it the wrong way on purpose.”
4. Template to email your senators about #GunReformNow
“Let’s make our voices louder than the minority who have hijacked the power and are leaving our children in harm’s way. NO MORE.”
5. Gendered Expectations of Physician Accessibility
“I asked her what she and her prior oncologist had discussed and tried so far, and her answer rendered me momentarily speechless. ‘Oh,’ she said, ‘I never told him any of this.'”
Next, my top five list, from a writer’s standpoint. This year I got braver in my attempts at writing satire, and the first four of the posts on my 2022 list are satirical pieces. Be sure to check out number five, which may sound like from the title it should be satirical, but isn’t:
1. Galadriel, Girl, You’re Being Gaslit
“I counter, where else could they have learned the soul-destroying machinations of gaslighting? The dwarves? I think not. Have you ever seen a dwarven woman put up with a word of male nonsense? I rest my case.”
2. Are you a human healthcare worker in an airborne virus pandemic or an Elven commander in Middle-Earth trying to convince everyone that Sauron’s still a threat?
“Your world will never be the same, but others refuse to see it, clinging to the past as if that can stop what’s coming.“
3. If the hospital CEO emailed employees like Twitter’s CEO
“Starting immediately, we are discontinuing all programs for employee wellness and CME. I wanted to cut childcare but was told we’ve never provided that. Lucky for you!“
4. AITA for Pointing Out to the Insurance Company That I’m the Expert on My Patient
“’Excellent,’ I say. ‘Then it’s being recorded that you’re the one obstructing my patient’s access to lifesaving treatment.’“
5. What if Elon Musk was in charge of your healthcare?
“This past week has been feeling all kinds of meta to me, as I’ve watched the new Twitter CEO initiate changes that, in his usual manner of putting profits over people, seem to have broken the Twitter algorithm … And it’s all been extra meta for me as it echoes one of the themes of my book: Maybe we need less algorithms in our lives.”
Which one(s) are your favorite(s)? Let me know in the comments below!