Tragedy happens to all of us at some point in our lives. It’s just a fact of life. From divorce to the death of a loved one, we will all experience emotionally painful things in our lives. In many circumstances tragedy can derail us in our professional lives and send us into a spiraling, out-of-control, negative state that is sometimes difficult to recover from. By understanding a few coping strategies and how to employ them within the framework of our busy professional lives, we can put tragedy in perspective and even create our own “personal tragedy crusade.” What I mean by this is the “positive” we intend to practice in the world to, in a sense, use our own tragedies to better the lives of others. What I have learned about how to prevent tragedy from destroying your career I learned the hard way. My goal is to share my painful story and offer some practical advice on how to deal with tragedies that may arise in your own life. The central take home message that I think it’s crucial to state is that your career can wait until you heal. Your projects, your lectures, your commitments…they can all wait. People who love and support you will understand that you need time to be with friends and family. In fact, I will go a step further and say that you should dump all of your commitments. Get out of lectures, pull out of committees, and cancel travel. Free yourself to allow healing. Believe me, learn from my mistakes. People who love and care about you will understand, and that is what matters. By sharing the story of my mother, I hope in some small way I can help others start the healing process and prioritize when tragedy befalls them.
Bouncing Back After Tragedy: Perspective is key – by Rogers
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More Cases From the Races
Oli Flower, , The Talks smaccChicago 2015, Airway, cases from races, emergency, hinds, mba, motobike, motorbike, pre-hospital, Resuscitation, Trauma, 0
John Hinds gives his final talk, on a subject he was most passionate about: Motorcycle medicine. After his incredibly...
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Religion and Critical Care
Oli Flower, , The Talks smaccChicago 2015, Uncategorized, care, coping, critical, critical care, crowe, doctors, hope, intensive care, liz, liz crowe, paediatrics, religion, smaccUS, social work, stress, 0
An abstract by Liz: The ultimate goal in working with any patient and their family is connection. This guarantees...
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Lessons from The Princess Bride
Oli Flower, , The Talks smaccChicago 2015, advice, amal, bride, career, ecg, ED, emergency medicine, mattu, princess, princess bride, wisdom, 0
Lessons from The Princess Bride A Synopsis by Amal Mattu A successful career in emergency medicine can be accomplished...
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Maitland on Fluids and Kids: What Now?
Oli Flower, , The Talks smaccChicago 2015, critical care, evidence based, FEAST trial, Fluid resuscitation, Kath Maitland, Kids, paediatrics, pediatrics, 0
Maitland on Fluids and Kids: What Now? A summary by Kath Maitland: Shock is a common complication of severe...
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Opioids – Pain, Compassion, Addiction, Malingering
Oli Flower, , The Talks smaccChicago 2015, abuse, addiction, analgesia, chronic pain, misuse, opiate, opioid, oxycontin, pain, prescription epidemic, 0
“Opioids are extraordinary agents that have been used for millennia for the relief of pain and suffering; however, the...
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The Battle of Heroism vs Safety In Healthcare
Oli Flower, , The Talks smaccChicago 2015, brindley, chicago, critical care, Health Care, heroism, human factors, Peter Brindley, Safety, Safety Checklists, smaccUS, 0
A Synopsis by Peter Brindley: The battle is on…who will win out: the heroic healthcare individual or the faceless...
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Karim Brohi on Tranexamic Acid in Trauma
Oli Flower, , The Talks smaccChicago 2015, bleeding, blood transfusion, chicago, critical care, denial, deny, handbook, Resuscitation, sarcasm, smaccUS, TAXIDERMIC ACID, Tranexamic Acid, TRANSENEEMIC ACID, TRASENAMIC ACID, Trauma, TRAXENAMIC ACID, TRIXYDIXY ACID, txa, 0
Karim Brohi on Tranexamic Acid in Trauma WARNING: THIS TALK WILL BE INEFFECTIVE IF YOU HAVE NO SENSE OF...
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HINDS: Crack the Chest. Get Crucified.
Oli Flower, , The Talks smaccChicago 2015, bike, chest, hinds, honourable, john hinds, motorbike, Resus, Resuscitation, resuswankers, thoracotomy, Trauma, 0
Resuscitation legend John Hinds talks about the consequences of our actions in resuscitation. He discusses resuscitative emergency thoracotomies and...
Such a relevant and important message, thanks Rob.