Behind the Mic with Dr. Lauren Fine: “Can You Just Check This?”
Some conversations start before we hit record. With Lauren Fine, it was a chat about traveling in Europe, where she walks 10 miles a day and somehow still feels like life is slow. By the time we started recording, it felt like talking with an old friend.
A few moments from behind the scenes:
She showed up late, for the right reason. Lauren ran behind in clinic that day. Her explanation: she was doing the best she could for her patients and making sure each one felt like a human being. I can't think of a better reason to be late to a podcast.
She spotted my award. Midway through, she caught the YouTube plaque on the shelf behind me and asked if it was an award for answering patient portal messages at 9 p.m. It isn't. That became one of my favorite exchanges: nobody gives out awards for answering email at night, and I'm still working on putting my own phone away.
I asked a question so long she got lost in it. She told me so, kindly. Fair enough.
The story at the heart of the episode
A patient came to Lauren, an allergist, for allergy symptoms. On his way out he mentioned a biopsy result he hadn't heard back about. Could she just check it?
She hesitated. It wasn't her test, and she'd have to deliver whatever news it held. Then she opened his chart, and her heart sank. It was a new cancer, his second.
She told him anyway. In her words, she couldn't have gone home and slept at night without telling him. Then he did something I keep thinking about: between treatments, he bought a Winnebago and drove across the country to see everything he'd wanted to see.
Why this is the human side of medicine
This is what HuMed is about. It wasn't Lauren's specialty or her test, and on paper it wasn't her job. She did it because she felt his vulnerability and asked herself what she'd want if it were her or her family.
She also gave me one of the best definitions of burnout I've heard. It isn't just exhaustion. It's losing the connection with patients and getting nothing back. For Lauren, that connection is what makes medicine worthwhile.
One line to take with you
She compares reinventing yourself to erasing a chalkboard: you can still see what was there before. You don't start over, you build on it.
Watch the full conversation on YouTube, or listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
David