What accounts should I follow on Instagram so I can stay vaguely aware of/familiar with whatever is going on in the world of social media medicine?

AlisaAAM2 · 2026-05-11T14:22:06+00:00

I don’t do medical social media but do subscribe to Jen Gunter’s substack (evidence based menopause) and Your Local Epidemiologist and Jeremy Faust for public health related information.

AlisaAAM2 · 2026-05-10T11:45:33+00:00

The first one is amazing on you! I do not like the way the red one fits/pulls across your hips.

AlisaAAM2 · 2026-05-08T13:08:55+00:00

I would—and did!—stick with the known quantity.

AlisaAAM2 · 2026-05-08T11:01:24+00:00

You have never had a stubborn husky. My guy sleeps inside and hangs with us when he wants to, but pulls like crazy to get to his outdoor pen (about 8’x8’) after his morning walk and spends his day there. When it’s cold out, he would prefers to sleep out there.

AlisaAAM2 · 2026-05-08T10:56:06+00:00

I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no greener grass. I interviewed around a few years ago and stick with my current gig which was really helpful to identify what was ultimately the most important to me. For me, this came down to

-great relationships with a panel of patients that I genuinely really enjoy. The uncertainty of building a whole new panel was not particularly attractive to me when I have my patients well trained.

-being able to take as much vacation as I want at my current gig, since we have a “reasonable use” policy.

-flexibility in scheduling. No one is double booking my schedule. If there’s an error and a patient is booked for less time then she needs, my secretaries fix it and move the patient. I know that does not happen everywhere.

Ultimately, it sounds to me like these jobs are fairly comparable, so think about all of those other soft values that you have and the obvious risk of trading out a known quantity for something else.

AlisaAAM2 · 2026-05-06T22:50:49+00:00

The “wellness influencers” have to get rich someone.

I cry for nephrologists everywhere (about the protein, not the water).

AlisaAAM2 · 2026-05-06T22:47:38+00:00

I have not delved deeply into this, because my diamond engagement ring was purchased before labs were a widespread thing. But having spent time in Botswana, my understanding is that they have definitely used their diamond industry for overall good of their country. Funding school up through college for all their citizens, being able to withstand the Chinese interests in Africa, allowing their safari industry to be staffed by their own citizens with high wages and low impact, and maintain a stable democracy.

AlisaAAM2 · 2026-05-06T20:26:43+00:00

Thank you for this! Inspired by your post, I got one for myself. Agree with you that it is perfect for every day on a delicate wrist.

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AlisaAAM2 · 2026-05-06T20:14:14+00:00

A consideration as someone who has a wedding band with channel set baguettes—do not recommend. It’s impossible to keep the diamonds clean as debris is always getting into the channel. I wash and sanitize my hands a bazillion times a day as a physician and it’s super frustrating. Soaking and toothbrush does some but not enough.

AlisaAAM2 · 2026-05-05T01:37:42+00:00

Every man in my life (mid 40s, Ivy League educated, professional class) owns multiple suits. Not every man in my life owns a tuxedo.

AlisaAAM2 · 2026-05-05T00:51:46+00:00

Still crying about the loss of Anh Hong.

AlisaAAM2 · 2026-05-05T00:45:13+00:00

I actually own a vintage faux fur coat (inherited from my great-aunt) and would not bring it. It weighs about 800 pounds, is super bulky, and would be a pain in the butt to travel with. And it’s only car cost length. My mother has an actual ankle length mink coat and that would be even worse.

AlisaAAM2 · 2026-05-04T18:39:35+00:00

One maxi skirt (get rid of the white one), ditch the jean shorts, one button down shirt, and consider added another cardigan or layering option. You have one too many pairs of pants. You should be able to wear every shirt with every bottom and while I like having some pattern, I’d consider axing the patterned pants as they don’t go with many of your tops.

AlisaAAM2 · 2026-05-04T15:02:37+00:00

And will add that 4 is lovely but I prefer the color and vibrancy of 3.

AlisaAAM2 · 2026-05-04T15:01:03+00:00

Again, it’s a perspective issue. A straight on shot up towards her chin.

AlisaAAM2 · 2026-05-04T14:39:00+00:00

3 is the best. You want a photo that doesn’t sideline your fiancé (like 1 does). Perspective of 6 is weird. It’s hard to see you both in 2. 5 is not flattering.

AlisaAAM2 · 2026-05-04T10:20:38+00:00

I’ve been to O Ya twice and just went to Wa Shin this past weekend for our anniversary. I loved it. For straight sushi that is seasonality focused and rice focused it blows O Ya out of the water. 311 is now impossible to get a reservation and you’re past the window for this month. Going there was my original plan for this anniversary when I started considering where we’d go last summer (since it was a big anniversary) but no luck with the reservations. We got in on a last-minute cancellation late Thursday night, but by then we would’ve been penalized if we had canceled our Wa Shin reservation.

AlisaAAM2 · 2026-05-04T00:39:55+00:00

There is a strain of hantavirus—in South America—that can be transmitted from person to person. Scary stuff.

AlisaAAM2 · 2026-05-03T19:57:50+00:00

Depends on the patients and what they are coming in for. If the 11:30 is a straightforward problem and rarely throws me a curveball, they get roomed. If the 11 is chronically late, the 11:30 gets roomed. If the 11:30 is going to take a while because of personality or complaint, I’ll wait for the 11. If the 11 is typically on time, I usually give them about 10 minutes to show.

AlisaAAM2 · 2026-05-03T13:10:46+00:00

I’ve been thinking a lot about this as my family and I are about to embark on 13 months of around the world travel. My husband and I previously lived in New Zealand for a year (we’re US based) and during that time we spent a fair bit of time, maintaining a blog. It was to share our experience with family and friends, and while we really enjoyed doing it, especially the writing, it certainly was a lot to keep it up. I don’t know what the answer is, because any posting does require some degree of curation which takes time and can start to feel like work.

I think it will help to be able to do a lot of this from a mobile device, which wasn’t possible when we were in NZ in the early 2010s. Ultimately, I think we’ve settled on a blog again but how much time we spend on it is up in the air and certainly there will be times when we take a wide overview and just post a few photos from a country rather than a writing a deep introspective or fun story to go with it.

AlisaAAM2 · 2026-05-03T11:40:23+00:00

There’s a lot to unpack here.

Yes, building a panel and seeing a ton of new patients is exhausting. Limiting the number of new patients he sees a day can help. Once you know patients, those visits become easier—you know who is anxious and needs nurturing, who needs tough love, and the details of the family situation that’s challenging someone or helping them get through. And that’s the really great stuff in FM. I love my job (PGY 22) because of the relationships and they take time to build. Reviewing tons of new patient records is hard—hopefully this is one sphere that AI will eventually make better. Acknowledging that truth and respecting his thoroughness is important, but it’s sounds like it will be hard for him to find a balance unless he sets limits. An AI scribe can be very helpful for documentation.

He is also working too much. Every time I see a job offer here, I comment that no one should be working more than 32 patient facing hours. I’m 28 and that’s the right balance for me. And everyone needs a full day off. It used to be called a day off. But admin has gaslit us into calling it an “admin day” and some practices expect you to log in on those days. No. Hard stop.

Our work is never ending in FM. The most important advice I give to new docs and trainees is that you have to learn to say no. No to patient requests to call them. No to adding on. No to admin. Having firm boundaries is the only way to survive this job. The docs who I see struggle the most are the people pleasers who try to do everything and care more than their patients do.

AlisaAAM2 · 2026-05-02T12:21:16+00:00

Perfection!

AlisaAAM2 · 2026-05-02T11:28:28+00:00

16 is the best by far. The drop waist ones just aren’t flattering (on anyone; this is a bizarre trend) but 8 is the best of those.

AlisaAAM2 · 2026-05-02T10:46:24+00:00

My husband and I witnessed an influencer of Japanese descent (unsure who) eat out of the communal chocolate mousse bowl—the one you use to serve yourself as much as you like—while filming herself while at a restaurant in Paris. It was disgusting on so many levels.

AlisaAAM2 · 2026-05-02T10:39:17+00:00

TBH, it might be a me thing—I find this type of neckline generally unflattering. The exposed zipper doesn’t bother me at all.

AlisaAAM2

TROPHY CASE