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BACK of the BOOK Heard in the Blogosphere Continued from page 165 Joshua Niforatos @vagabondpensees To all the physicians out there who *enjoy* their jobs, we need you to write more about this to balance the rather one-sided, dominant narrative of the burnt-out, suffering physician. You exist; I’ve rotated w/ you; now write. Write to inspire a future generation of doctors. Getting Red-dy for #ASH18! The newly redesigned “Trainee Day” called for a new mascot: Meet Red! Red introduced himself at ASH headquarters and shared some behind-the-scenes photos of the ASH-a- Palooza planning. ASH @ASH_hematology Jeffrey Flier, MD @jflier How to be successful in research: Treat everyone with respect. Listen. Be authentic. Ask for help. Don’t be afraid to say you don’t know. Communicate. Put your mentees first. Don’t give up. Stay humble. Be honest with yourself. Give yourself time to think. Should You Choose a Female Doctor? Recent studies have suggested that patients tend to fare better when they are treated by a female doctor rather than by a male doctor. Why would a doctor’s gender matter? According to patients and health-care providers who spoke about this topic in The New York Times, communication and empathy are key factors. “All doctors, whether they are a man or a woman, really set out to save a person’s life. … Patients not only want you to take care of them in terms of making the right diagnosis, they also want to feel heard, and a big part of health care is the communication piece.” Hi, I’m Red! I’m the mascot for ASH-a-Palooza, #ASHTrainee day reimagined, on Nov. 30 at @PetcoPark. I’ll be taking over today. Send me your questions about our event! Roy Silverstein, MD @RSilversteinMD ASH-a-Palooza Red crashes the ASH training committee meeting in DC. #ASHtrainee #ASH18 —Nieca Goldberg, MD, from NYU Langone’s Joan H. Tisch Center for Women’s Health “Had I been with a male doctor, I think he just would have put his arm around me and said, ‘Listen, go home, relax, meditate, maybe take a tranquilizer,’ and that would have been the end of it. [Dr. Goldberg] paid attention and treated me as if I were credible. I wish all the women I know could understand how important it is to have a doctor who pays attention to them, whatever part of the body they are looking at. I think a lot of women are getting short shrift.” —Edna Haber, a woman who saw Dr. Goldberg to discuss heart palpitations “I am hesitant to say that women should avoid male physicians or people should focus on getting a single type of physician, because that circumnavigates the issue. Patients should, by all means, make sure that they are being taken seriously and being strong self- advocates.” Red won some fans: Julia Close, MD @JuliaLClose This is one of those hematology advantages over oncology. Large stuffed walking red blood cell = cute and, honestly, AWESOME. Giant ambulating cancer blob - lacks the same charm and would be totally inappropriate. And it also marked an unusually early start to the Ribbon Wars: Mikkael Sekeres MD, MS @MikkaelSekeres @jmikhaelmd how could Red have gotten a ribbon that we don’t possess yet! S/he is still a long way from our ASH Sash for #ASH18! —Brad Greenwood, PhD, from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management “If I [need] to guide the discussion, I [try] to do it in a way that [is] more gentle. The fact that the doctor is hearing what you are saying and cares about you and understands what you are going through makes coping with the illness and the implications of the illness that much easier.” Follow ASH and ASH Clinical News on: @ASH_Hematology, @BloodJournal, @BloodAdvances, and @ASHClinicalNews Facebook.com/AmericanSocietyofHematology —Donald Barr, MD, PhD, from Stanford University School of Medicine @ASH_Hematology ASHClinicalNews.org ASH Clinical News 169