Merging a Passion for Writing with Healthcare | Jessica Gold MD, MS

In episode 241, Taylor interviews Dr. Jessica Gold, MD, MS. Jessi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO. She has written for Forbes, New York Times, The Washington Post, Time Magazine, and Self, amongst many others. They discuss merging her passion for writing with her education in healthcare and the role that mental health plays for healthcare workers during COVID. 

Episode Highlights

Having Confidence

Taylor and Jessi discuss how she started writing articles for online publications, simply by emailing editors, asking if they needed writing on mental health.

The worst that can happen is they ignore me or say no. And the best that can happen is I get a piece. 

Dr. Jessi Gold

On COVID-19 and Mental Health

Dr. Jessi Gold:

There is so much talk about mental health right now, and the mental health of frontline workers in a way that, I don’t think anybody has ever talked to me or wanted this much writing around mental health or wanted this much writing from healthcare providers in first person, ever, since I’ve been in this space.

And I think we have a really big role right now. I think that mental health providers in this space will have a really big role moving forward, because I think we haven’t even scratched the surface of a conversation for mental health. I think we started and then, with new waves, or continued waves, it’s just sort of, you know, goes back to the physical health conversation because it’s the immediate concern. But I think the aftermath is always going to be kind of on us. And there’s a lot, a lot of mental health for the country, but also really for frontline workers that we’re going to be seeing for years to come. And that is going to be something that we need to be advocating for and we need to be keeping in the front of everybody’s mind and really thinking through and making sure the conversations stay in the public.

Expressing Vulnerability in Leadership Roles

Dr. Jessi Gold

Something that’s really important to me over time is that we think about how to express vulnerability and express hardships and express good in the same sentence, and in a way that makes the culture better without making the culture worse.

And really, vulnerability is leadership, and vulnerability is key to medicine being able to survive in the long run and being able to be a better field. And we’re not there yet. And I’m honestly hoping that COVID is a turning point for this, because I think it brings up a lot of things where we really need to be vulnerable and talk about emotions openly.

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@drjessigold coming at us on episode 241 talking about her amazing journey through medicine and merging that with one her passions: writing. She has written for TIME Magazine, Huffington Post, and more. In this clip she discusses the importance of vulnerability and how that will take us to the next level of our leadership in healthcare.

A post shared by The Happy Doc (@happydocpodcast) on Jul 9, 2020 at 10:16am PDT

Being Mindful of Young Physicians

We often forget that when we say things that we don’t like about our job, it affects the people coming up below us. I think that’s going to be something that we need to keep in check right now, because a lot of us are really struggling, and a lot of us are really burned out.

Dr. Jessi Gold

You can check out Dr. Jessi Gold’s published articles on her website.
Find Dr. Gold on Instagram and Twitter at @drjessigold

Read the article ‘Alligator Hands’ here, and about Dr. Gold’s work with TIME’S UP Healthcare here.

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Transcript available on page two.