Every now and then, I have an experience in the hospital that reminds me why I decided to choose this life.
#healthcareworkers #hcws #residency #cardiology #fellowship #wic #intern #internship #meded #doctor #womeninmedicine #blackdoctors #graphicmedicine #internalmedicine #medicine #medicalschool #medlife #md #medstudent #nurse #physician #webcomic
Last summer, I went to Costa Rica for one of my closest friends’ weddings. Justin & I came back with nice tans and a renewed sense of peace, and our lovely couple returned with Rio, an adorable street kitty turned domestic hellion (slide 2, slide 1 is my fave pic of my precious baby boy) who jumped onto their raft. Many of our memories were marked by playing with the stray kitties who lingered by restaurants. we loved our trip so much that we pledged to return soon.
So when @animalloverescue reached out asking if I could share their mission, it was easy to say yes! @animalloverescue is a non-profit no-kill charitable shelter that takes care of 1200 animals (including 450 dogs, 350 cats, sheep, goats, horses & more, many of whom have medical needs.)
But the pandemic was hard on them. The shelter is funded by their hotel, Lands in Love, which unfortunately was closed during the height of COVID-19. On top of that, there’s been a surge in the number of abandoned pets who need them.
The world is rough right now, but my three kitties have brought me joy. Please consider donating to this beautiful shelter in this beautiful country! Link is in my bio! Swipe for pics of more precious babies.
In honor of a royal boatload of you getting ARCs of ON ROTATION (& my starred booklist review)- I’d like to introduce the Love Interest: Ricky Gutiérrez.
Ricky is blatantly inspired by my high school crush (a Mexican-American dancer who I fell in love in with 2.5 seconds after meeting because he told me I was “beautiful & talented” & suggested that because he too was beautiful & talented, we procreate, you know, for the good of the world. Which. Uh. Was quite the proposal for 15 y/o Shirlene.) He’s also inspired by every single guy I’ve loved, platonically or otherwise, who has an incredibly good soul but inexplicably does f*ckboy shit. Most of the time, though, Ricky is kind, thoughtful & grounded, a good foil for my boneheaded MC.
An earlier draft of OR actually had Ricky’s perspective, & though the final version no longer has this, I really wanted the ML to be a fully realized character with his own agency & complications. This means that he’s, um… been quite polarizing as a male lead! Swipe for some laughs 😂😂
#onrotation #debutauthors #shirleneobuobi #blackauthors #blackwriters #bookstagram #booktok #blackbooktok #healthcareworkers #hcws #intern #internship #meded #doctor #womeninmedicine #blackdoctors #graphicmedicine #internalmedicine #medicine #medicalschool #medlife #md #medstudent #nurse #physician #webcomic
So. Last week was rough. I tweeted in support of trans people’s right to be treated with dignity & somehow got roped into a controversy. I got death threats, rape threats, & all manner of uninspired insults. I’ve never experienced anything like it. I’m probably going to experience it again. The blood is in the proverbial water.
Things I’ve reflected on while recovering from the shock of my mass media debut:
The internet likes to label anyone as an activist, and I think it’s changed what activism looks like. Nowadays, anyone can build a persona online out of “fighting” for any manner of issues while not being at all invested in them. I follow the lead of many incredible activists, but I’m at best a canary in a coal mine who hopes to draw attention to the challenges that I and the people I’ve been tasked with caring for face. I’m happy if my being “outspoken” means that others will be empowered to follow suit, but sad that we live in a world where speaking our truths is considered courageous.
Which brings me to the second point: until recently, I’ve figured that coming from a place of love means something. That as long as I was intentional with my wording and focused on compassion & my personal experience, I would be (mostly) safe. But I’ve since learned that the truth doesn’t matter to those who are determined to hate. People don’t need much of an excuse to go after those of us whose presence in the hallowed institution of medicine is considered an aberration. And that was good for me to learn. As my voice grows, more people will react poorly to me simply because of who is speaking. And because I can’t (won’t) shut up, I’m going to have to grow a thicker skin. Which… between being a debut author/ getting reviews (mostly good! I can’t actually complain!), being a 1st year Cardiology fellow, and getting piled on by F0x News aficionados…is gonna be armadillo-thick before the year is up.
🍑 ON ROTATION 🍑 is going INTERNATIONAL, baby!
So delighted to announce that ON ROTATION has been acquired by @Quercusbooks for UK & Commonwealth rights! That’s right - that means that if you live in any of the countries on the list on slide 3, you’ll also get a chance to dive in- on the same day as the US release! (June 21,2022!)
To celebrate, the first 50 people (in the countries listed) to use the link will get AUTOMATIC ACCESS to an e-advanced reading copy! Unfortunately I don’t know how many are left bc they’re 6 hours ahead of us 😅
Thank you so much to my amazing team at Quercus for giving Angie & her crew so much love!
#bookstagram #booktok #blackbooktok #meded #doctor #womeninmedicine #blackdoctors #graphicmedicine #internalmedicine #medicine #medicalschool #medlife #md #medstudent #onrotation #physician #webcomic
CW: transphobia
This popped off on Twitter, which made me glad (others feeling emboldened to protect trans lives) & also annoyed (TERFs & other bigots crop dusting my mentions).
I like healthy discourse, but there are some things I refuse to “debate.” One of them is the right for #trans/ #genderqueer people to be able to exist in society with dignity and without fear of violence. As a cis person, aiding this is as easy as respecting a person’s gender identity. Doing this is life saving and affirming, and costs NOTHING (imagine how often we can say that? That having compassion/ understanding -> saving a life?) And if you claim to be a feminist/ womanist, your rhetoric is meaningless to me if you do not include trans women - who by and large face AMPLIFIED versions of the misogynistic violence we are subjected to.
As healthcare workers, we can function as gatekeepers for trans people to receive equitable and appropriate care. Unfortunately, we don’t get taught much about trans specific healthcare in medical school, and so I’ve been making a conscious effort to learn.
A reminder that this account is an inclusive space, and honestly, questioning the “validity” trans identity is a blockable offense for me. Follow accounts like @alokvmenon (who does an incredible series on queer history, demonstrating that the trans experience is a human experience & just how new & Western transphobia truly is), @queersurgeon, @dr_ronx , @ughkevo, @inclusivecareproject to learn more. Be open minded, assess why you may feel that your discomfort trumps someone’s safety, & question what you have been taught regarding gender roles & binaries. You might be shocked by how much it frees you.
#transphobia #transmisogyny #healthcareisahumanright #humanism #compassion #transhealthcare
I talk about being burnt out often enough that it might seem like it’s easy for me to admit. But it’s not. Everyone around me seems tireless. My attendings, who’ve been doing this for decades, don’t complain. I’ve been getting in my head about how the fact that I’m struggling means that I don’t belong.
I’m trying to leave that space, and remember why I chose to do medicine in the first place & Cardiology in particular. I’m trying to remember just how hard I’ve worked just to be here now, how much time I spent doing research on top of my 60-80 hour work weeks, how proud I should be that I was still true to my need to create through that. I’m rereading the essays I wrote for my fellowship application, and the comic I drew after the fact. I’m trying to deal with complicated feelings of feeling undervalued, with the sometimes bitter refrain in the back of my head that asks why medicine continues to ask me to prove myself despite what I’ve already achieved, and the realization that all my years struggling with imposter syndrome were actually just me dealing with misogynoir. I’m allowing myself to feel deserving & entitled & not feel bad about it.
And I’m trying to rest where I can. Bae 😍🥺 booked a night in a hotel + massage + dinner for us yesterday, & I’ve finally been getting to dive into my ARC of Babel by @kuangrf (it’s spectacular). I haven’t had a day to myself for a long time; almost all of my limited free time has gone to trying to maintain relationships. I’m realizing how much I’m burning out there, too. So, a mass request: if you know me irl, please don’t ask me to do anything until July. I have a hard time consistently saying no because I don’t want you to feel undervalued, but I quite literally have only 2 weekends off from now till mid May, after which I’ll have a wedding (x2) , & then a book launch. Just the prospect of having to be “on” in the face of the fatigue is daunting. I’ll be back, but rn I’m not okay, & in my quest to try to be a little better, I will need time for me.
#fabletics #moveinfabletics #fableticspartner #burnout
There’s no question that healthcare costs in the United States are out of control. As a physician, I was never taught how much medications cost or how to navigate the convoluted insurance system. I just learned what medications I needed to prescribe to address my patients’ disease states. But when I started practice, it became very apparent that cost was a significant barrier for many of my patients.
The @goodrx app has been an invaluable resource, and during my time as a PCP, I would often pull it up when discussing a new medication with my patients. By providing transparency in an opaque system, GoodRx enhances shared decision making!
Download the GoodRx app through the link in my bio today! It’s free, and super easy to use!
#goodrx #goodrxpartner #sponsored #ad #healthcareworkers #prescribers #pharmacy
Today marks THREE MONTHS until ON ROTATION comes out in the world! So let’s start that countdown with an intro! Meet my main character, third year medical student Angie Appiah.
Like many medical students, Angie has delayed much of her personal development in pursuit of her career, and it shows. (Anyone else’s medical school experience feel like high school 2.0?) My husband describes her as “exhausting” and says he would “never date her,” which is… fair. But in my opinion, Black Girls in real life and fiction hardly ever get the chance to grow and make mistakes without becoming the subject of derision, rarely get the chance to be anything other than “strong.” And becoming “strong” is a process for Girls Like Us, especially those of us in confidence-breaking professions like medicine. I wanted to take Angie through that journey, and you guys too!
Hoping it’s a fun ride, and I can’t WAIT for you guys to meet her. June 21 can’t come quick enough! (Check out my Reels to see the process!)
#onrotation #debutauthors #shirleneobuobi #blackauthors #blackwriters #bookstagram #booktok #blackbooktok #healthcareworkers #hcws #residency #cardiology #fellowship #wic #intern #internship #meded #doctor #womeninmedicine #blackdoctors #graphicmedicine #internalmedicine #medicine #medicalschool #medlife #md #medstudent #nurse #physician #webcomic
Confession: I was a huge grouch about my bridal shower/bachelorette. I’m exhausted. The effort of maintaining my relationships, creating my art (which I will never give up or cut out), and being a Cardiology fellow has left my battery on E. The besties knew this, because I reminded them every other day that, even though I was supposed to be looking forward to the weekend, I would much rather spend it paying off my sleep debt.
In spite of this , @linnliu and my lovely MIL put together the best showerette an exhausted cards fellow could have asked for. My girls who could make it traveled a considerable distance to spend one weekend in Tampa with me (shoutout to @sashiiimii_i , who literally flew in & left within 18 hours bc she was not gonna miss it, the twins & my girl Alyson, who have had my back for over a decade now!) My girls who couldn’t helped plan (@neftieboni made a banging playlist & helped with the decor) and sent champagne (@shrutipatel .) We watched flamenco dancers and ate delicious food and were merry. I even curled my hair for the first time in months! I feel incredibly cherished & loved. Get you a girl crew today, y’all !
#bridalshower #bachelorette #marriage #wedding #blackdoctors