Sorry I've been gone & I miss you!
Busy-ness of Academic Fall + Global News Depression
Dear P&P Readers ~
First things first: I’m sorry I’ve been gone for the last 6 weeks. I thought I’d bounce back after three weeks of covid, but I still had brain fog for several weeks, and persistent insomnia for several more. I LOVE sleeping - so the insomnia felt particularly cruel.
Even after I started to feel better, the Academic Fall hit with force: my kids’ back-to-school and my academic calendar. Feels like it’s been non-stop and I can’t keep up.
Lately, I’ve tried to embrace rest, rather than grind myself to keep up with all the things.
An upside of rest is that I’ve thought of you all most days and have amassed so many ideas about what to write for you in the months ahead.
Choosing Not to Look Away
As with many folks, I’ve been emotionally struggling with the situation in Israel and Gaza, and deeply feeling my fortune in being safe.
I’m not an expert in the region’s politics, but ever since I was a student at a Jewish university, I’ve kept an eye on the Middle East and hoped things would improve. Back then, I remember visiting students who spent a semester with us in Los Angeles after canceling their semesters abroad in Israel because of the suicide bombings. The Sbarro bombing in 2001, just a month before 9/11, shook the Jewish community. In the 20 years since it hadn’t felt like we’d made progress…
Here are some of the issues I’ve been discussing with my ethics committee, and I hope you don’t mind me sharing with you:
As an ethicist and a human who cares for other humans, I feel it’s important not to look away when we see suffering. I write this even though it’s hard to look at the consequences of terrorism and state-sponsored violence. It’s hard to see over-run hospitals and then see one bombed. It’s hard to rectify the role the U.S. plays in global violence. I’m worried about the people who have been bombed, kidnapped, and murdered. I worry for the survivors, who will never be the same.
How to Spot Fake News
There’s a huge amount of misinformation and disinformation spreading about Israel and Gaza. It’s vital to fact-check information before spreading it further. Here’s some advice from the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). They also have this as an infographic.
Consider the Source - Click away from the story to investigate the site, its mission and its contact info.
Read Beyond - Headlines can be outrageous in an effort to get clicks. What's the whole story?
Check the Author - Do a quick search on the author. Are they credible? Are they real?
Supporting Sources? - Click on those links. Determine if the info given actually supports the story.
Check the Date - Reposting old news stories doesn't mean they're relevant to current events.
Is it a Joke? - If it is too outlandish, it might be satire. Research the site and author to be sure.
Check your Biases - Consider if your own beliefs could affect your judgment.
Ask the Experts - Ask a librarian or consult a fact-checking site.
American Implications
In America, I’m feeling all the ways white supremacy culture thrives on cultural conflicts, using ideology to fuel hatred of Muslims and Jews.
I keep thinking about the aftermath of 9/11 - the rise in anti-Muslim ideology. In the days following the Hamas attacks, 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume was murdered and his mom was attacked by their 71-year-old landlord in Chicago. I care for a lot of 6-year-olds in my anesthesiology practice. They are sweet and often funny, starting to piece together the world outside their immediate family. Wadea was a kindergartener - probably making friends and finger painting. I can’t imagine what it takes to hate a child for being in a particular religion.
In the U.S., anti-semitism continues to worsen. The Anti-Defamation League found that Antisemitic incidents have nearly tripled in the last six years. From the Tree of Life synagog shootings to the white supremacist parade chanting “Jews will not replace us,” America’s Far-Right extremists are a big part of the problem. But anger about Israel and Gaza fuel another flavor of anti-Semitism. Recently, people angry with Israel’s attacks on Gaza are ripping down posters of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas.
All of this means human beings are harmed by hatred and anger. I’m doing my best not to look away from suffering, not to rely on all-or-nothing thinking, and to fact-check the rumors I come across.
On a less depressing note - Here are a few of the things I’ve been up to this fall:
Fall is Conference Season for many academics, including me. This year, I went to three anesthesiology conferences. Sadly, I couldn’t attend the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH). It conflicted with the anesthesiology conferences, and even I admit I cannot be in two places simultaneously.
Society for Pediatric Anesthesiology - This wonderful little society focuses on safe care for kids under anesthesia. I moderated the panel “Adverse Childhood Events and Trauma Informed Care: We Can Do Better!” on how childhood experiences (positive and negative) impact pain and kids’ experiences with surgery. A child abuse pediatrician also taught anesthesiologists how to spot suspicious injuries and document for assessment.
Women in Anesthesiology - This single-evening meeting on the impact of sexual harassment in anesthesiology was fabulous. I’ve written to you before about the AAMC harassment data showing anesthesiologists report the highest rates of sexual harassment of any specialty (for women and men). At WIA, we heard from three experts on how harassment harms the field and what we can do to combat it. The whole conference fit it well with my research interests.
The American Society of Anesthesiology Annual Meeting - This is the biggest anesthesiology meeting. It’s big, it’s loud, and it’s crowded. Generally, I don’t attend this one because it’s A LOT and I feel a bit overwhelmed.
But this year, I had two invited panels on abortion that were un-missable.
Generations of Anesthesiologists: How Abortion Laws Impact the Future of Our Profession and Our Patients
First, my colleagues and I reprised our popular panel on how abortion laws impact the practice of anesthesiology. We were honored that the current president of the American Medical Association and fellow anesthesiologists, Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld, opened up the panel for us. You can read a summary of his remarks on why governmental interference in medical care, like abortion, is a huge problem.
We couldn’t agree more.
Maternal Morbidity and Mortality in a Post-Roe World: Defining a Research Agenda
My other abortion talk was for a special symposium for the journal Anesthesiology, which focused on advances in obstetric anesthesiology. “Protecting Moms: Anesthesiology and Peridelivery Care” included several fantastic presentations on racial disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality, how California intervened to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality drastically, and on obstetric sepsis. I particularly appreciated the inclusion of Maile Le Boeuf and her story of surviving a severe, often fatal post-partum infection.
You can watch a video about her experience below. It’s incredibly telling - and not surprising - that her early signs of sepsis were missed and ignored, leading to her near death.
My talk focused on how abortion restrictions will impact (and are already impacting) the health and well-being of pregnant people. In a country where being pregnant is extremely dangerous, taking away safe access to abortion is particularly alarming.
This tragic situation opens up lots of avenues for research - far beyond obstetric anesthesiology. My goal was to inspire folks in the audience to each think of one research question related to abortion access. Based on audience feedback afterwards, I think I got a number of folks thinking differently about abortion research as effective action.
Thank you for reading and being here.
I have several posts drafted based on reader-requested topics. I haven’t forgotten about you! ❤️
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