Ungrateful Students and a Thankful Syrian

Some Thanksgiving thoughts-

Campus protests are erupting across the country. In response to perceived racial injustices students have disrupted football games, libraries, lectures, and every conceivable aspect of academic life. Administrators have struggled with how to respond, with most deciding to meet as many of the demands as possible and in so doing validating the claims of the aggrieved.

The outside world, of which most of us are a part, is less supportive. Columns and blog posts mock the students, calling them spoiled, entitled and ignorant. These criticisms overlook what I think is at the heart of their dissatisfaction and at the heart of many of the problems we face today.

They aren’t thankful.

We live in the richest nation the world has ever seen, with blessings and benefits that previous generations would have viewed as impossible fantasies. Most young people hold in their hands smart phones that have hundreds of times more computing power than that which powered the space shuttles, that can take and store photographs without film, and from which they can teleconference with anyone around the world. Today’s students have boundless educational opportunities, most of them subsidized by fellow citizens. They live in dorms that are luxurious, with movie theaters, restaurants and work out centers.

In spite of all of the blessings, they are dissatisfied and angry. There is no sense of gratitude, no consideration of their privilege. People their age in all corners of the globe battle poverty, disease and oppression on a daily basis and can only dream of what these young Americans possess but American students are mindless of the plight of others. Lacking any sense of gratitude, they protest over silly slights.

We as a society would do well to remind ourselves and our families of how blessed we are. A person living at the “poverty line” in the United States, $11,770 a year for an individual, is in the top 15% of income earners worldwide. The poorest Americans are wealthy compared to the rest of the world!

Perhaps it is time to change our focus. How different would our lives and conversations be if we stopped focusing on the things that we do not have and instead focused on what we do have? We who have been surrounded by plenty all of our lives can easily lose sight of the blessings we have received.

I spoke yesterday with a man from Syria. He left there many years ago. Today he works behind the parts counter at a Kia dealership. It is not a high paying job by American standards, but he spoke of the incredible blessing of living in the best nation in the world. He considered himself to be rich. He was grateful and content and it showed in his face.

I want to be more like him.

Happy Thanksgiving.

-          Bart

Confident, Offended, and Dead Wrong

He was mad at me, convinced that I was attacking our church and its leadership. Although I did not once mention our church by name he was certain that the sermon illustrations I used were intended to  call attention to the challenges our church was facing at the time. There were many points in the message that closely paralleled issues our church was confronted so it was natural to assume that I had crafted the message with the intention of emphasizing those problems. 

His assumption was logical, reasonable, supported by his observations, and wrong.

I was part of a team of teachers who had been asked to each teach about one of the Kings of Israel or Judah. I requested one king, but was assigned a different one, so the lesson I taught was not one I had chosen.I had first outlined and taught on that king and the associated passage of scripture seven years earlier, at a different church, long before our current church’s problems had begun. Recognizing the potential that some might think I was attacking our church, I agonized and fretted and worked hard to stay true to the passage. I repeatedly edited and altered the message, taking out portions that I thought might be interpreted negatively.

In spite of my efforts, my friend reached the conclusion that I had selected the passage and crafted the sermon with our church in mind. It was several months before we talked face to face and I was able to correct his assumptions. When he heard the whole story his apology was genuine and sincere.

After we talked I reflected on how many times I had similarly and confidently reached a wrong conclusion about others, the occasions when I had misjudged others based on limited information.

I thought of patients I had written off as non-compliant, only to later learn that they had lost their jobs and their insurance. I remembered the many times I had wrongly thought my children were rude or disrespectful only to discover that I had misheard them. There is no shortage of examples of me confidently making quick yet erroneous assessments.

My friends, family and patients deserve better from me. It is my prayer that I will, over time, develop the habit of assuming the best in others, that I will be someone who gives others a chance to explain before I choose to condemn. I have a long way to go

- Bart

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Sleepless Patients, Difficult Choices

People need sleep and many are having difficulty getting it, especially with advancing age. Hardly a day goes by that I do not see a patient asking for a sleep medication. People think that all that is needed is to take a pill every night at bedtime and, like magic, they will get 8 hours of refreshing sleep every night for the rest of their lives. Life, and medicines, do not always work that way. When I tell patients the truth, that evidence is that long term sleep medications are more harmful than beneficial in patients over the age of 60, I am met with responses that combine disbelief and anger. Some patients have left my practice.

Sleep deprived patients are among the most desperate patients I see. By the time they come to see me they often have not slept well for months and are struggling to function. When they take a sleeping pill and it works it is an incredible relief to them. After a few weeks of treatment the thought of stopping the medication brings a sense of panic.

There are alternatives to long term sedative use but they require time and effort and we live in a world where things that require time and effort are undesirable. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, a specific form of psychotherapy, has been shown to be more effective than medication in restoring normal sleep. It takes several weeks and is not inexpensive so many patients are resistant. Sleep deprivation therapy, an approach where patients limit time in bed to hours actually slept (sometimes starting at as little as four hours a night) can also be effective but is equally undesirable. When given the choice between changing behavior or taking a pill, Americans choose the latter.

What makes matters more difficult is that many patients are unwilling to change habits and behaviors that make sleep more difficult. When I bring up caffeine use, alcohol use, watching television in bed, use of iphones and tablets and other behaviors I am always met with a list of reasons why the patient cannot or will not follow my advice. They just want a pill. As my commitment to practice quality medicine is stronger than my desire to please, the visits become lengthy and difficult.

As frustrating as these interactions can be for both me and my patients I have learned that they are to be expected. I live in a world of people who have been conditioned to expect an easy fix to every problem,  a world where effort is something to be avoided and not expended.

I cannot change the world, but I can do my part to change the lives of the patients under my care. When it comes to improving their sleep, it means encouraging them to take the difficult but better road.

- Bart

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Unexpected Encouragement

Encouragement can come from unexpected places. After a stressful week that included planning memorial services for my grandfather and arranging placement for my grandmother, stress that caused my chronic jaw pain to flare and sleep to be elusive I found myself sitting on the sofa mindless watching television. Too tired to do anything more, I sat and listened to singer after singer miss notes but still be praised by the celebrity coaches. I felt I was giving away minutes that I would never get back.

Then Jordan Smith sang “Great is Thy Faithfulness.” In perfect pitch and with minimal accompaniment, he reminded me of the hope that has sustained me throughout my life. God never, ever, fails to keep His promises. Here are the words of the hymn he sang-

Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father

There is no shadow of turning with thee

Thou changest not, thy compassions they fail not

As thou hast been, thou forever will be

Great is thy faithfulness

Great is thy faithfulness

Morning by morning new mercies I see

All I have needed, thy hand has provided

Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me

Years ago, as a child of 10 I memorized these verses from Paul’s letter to his friend Timothy

For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him;

If we endure, we will also reign with Him;

If we deny Him, He also will deny us;  

If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. 2 Tim 2:11-13

When God makes promises, He keeps them, and nothing in this life changes that truth. I was reminded of this tonight in an unexpected way.

-          bart

A Stranger in Your Exam Room

It is often difficult for patients to discuss personal issues with their doctors. Thanks to electronic records, it just got a whole lot harder.

Electronic Medical records have been a major disappointment. In survey after survey doctors tell stories of unmet promises and unexpected failures. While electronic prescribing, data collection and legibility of records are a positive, patients tell of doctors never looking up from the computer screen and of more time waiting and less time with the doctor. Doctors feel detached from patients, are stressed when they fall behind, and wonder when the promise of easily accessed data from other doctors will ever be realized. Some of these difficulties are understandable but there is one negative aspect of electronic records that is particularly troubling to patients, especially those dealing with intensely personal issues such as mental health and family conflicts. Many doctors are hiring “scribes”, people whose job it is to enter data into the computerized record on behalf of the doctor.

For some physician’s this is a matter of survival. Inefficient medical software and limited computer and typing skills have resulted in plummeting physician productivity. Declining reimbursements and rising costs make it impossible for doctors to cut back on volume to allow them to enter data themselves. They see no choice but to hire someone to do the work for them. When paying someone $25 an hour to enter data allows you to see an additional 6 patients a day, the math is easy. Spending $200 to make $600 is a return on investment that cannot be ignored.

While physicians are comfortable with an extra person in the exam room during the interview, patients are not always in agreement. Privacy laws and confidentiality policies do not change the fact that this extra person may learn things about a patient's marriage, sex life, depression or drug use that the patient wishes they hadn't. There is a real risk that as a result some patients may withhold information crucial to their care.

So what can be done? At the moment options are limited. Patients have a right to ask that a scribe not be present, but this may strain the relationship with the physician as it is essentially asking the doctor to fall behind in the office.

Some physicians have addressed the problem by charging extra fees to patients to cover the costs of longer visits. I have seen physicians charge from $900 to $3000 dollars a year per patient to be a part of a practice that schedules fewer visits per day, giving more face to face time with the doctor. Unfortunately these membership fees are not covered by insurance and out of the reach of many families. Doctors who participate in HMO plans are contractually banned from charging such fees.

As with many medical conditions, there is no readily available treatment or cure. For the moment, doctors and patients will need to learn to live with the pain and hope things get better over time. I am not sure they will.

-          Bart

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