physician oath | Dr. Valerie Brooke

Valerie Brooke, MD

Code Status

At the end of every new patient evaluation and admission to the rehabilitation hospital I have to bring up the sensitive subject of Code...

Valerie Brooke, MD

Rapid response

Last week I said to my colleague, “It feels like it’s a full moon,” and she quickly agreed. It was a day full of chaos and emergencies,...

Valerie Brooke, MD

Blood and tears

Nothing in medical training really prepares you for the death of your first patient, the first time you officially pronounce a patient...

Valerie Brooke, MD

My first mistake

I saw my senior resident storming down the hospital corridor towards me. As soon as she was several feet away, she yelled out “You killed...

Valerie Brooke, MD

Physician burnout - Part 4

I was reminded that my response to the stressors at work during the COVID-19 pandemic are to be expected. It’s normal to feel stress...

Valerie Brooke, MD

Physician burnout - Part 3 - Suicide

By the time the COVID-19 surge in our community did arrive last fall, I was ready. In the months prior I had recognized that I was...

Valerie Brooke, MD

Physician burnout - Part 2

I suddenly had the insight that what I was experiencing was physician burnout, something I had not yet experienced so acutely on the job...

Valerie Brooke, MD

Physician burnout - Part 1

Last year when the SARS-CoV2 was just starting to circulate in the US (or, more accurately, the awareness of its presence was becoming more

Valerie Brooke, MD

My Oath and patients who don't believe in COVID-19

It is true that this is the most challenging time I have had thus far in my career as a physician. And it’s not just the long hours...