In this episode, I am joined by Dr. David Weill, a lung transplant doctor and author, about lung transplants. Dr. Weil shares his experiences working with lung transplant patients, including the emotional ups and downs of the job. He also discusses the close relationships formed with the families of patients, which can be both rewarding and difficult. The conversation sheds light on the complexity of lung transplants and the importance of organ donation.
Show notes:
[00:00:46] Emotional experiences as a transplant doctor.
[00:05:00] Shortage of transplant doctors.
[00:11:28] Lung transplant operation complexities.
[00:13:32] Transplant organs kept alive.
[00:19:17] Lung transplant and COVID.
[00:20:40] Lung transplants for COVID patients.
[00:28:30] Gratitude in organ transplant work.
[00:29:21] Kidney transplant candidate selection.
[00:33:33] Preventing Burnout in Healthcare.
[00:40:14] Raw, emotional book about transplant.
[00:44:00] Balance in medical career.
[00:03:38] Chronic pain management.
More About Dr. Weill:
Dr. Weill served as the director of several transplant programs for 20 years, most notably as the Director of the Center for Advanced Lung Disease and Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Program at Stanford University Medical Center.
In 2016, after serving in his role at Stanford for 11 years, he did the unthinkable and walked away while at the top of his field. Dr. Weill was burnt out from the daily battles of being a doctor: the patients that couldn't be treated because of finances, the operations that failed, and the countless hours spent trying to make the modern miracle of organ transplants a bit more miraculous.
He has written a riveting memoir Exhale: Hope, Healing, and A Life in Transplant, which offers readers an inside look at the immense psychological pressure medical professionals face on the job and the toll a career in transplant took on one of the nation's most successful transplant doctors.
Exhale also dives deep into hospital politics, healthcare system inequities, and ethics that determine who gets life-saving transplants and who doesn't.
Dr. Weill is currently the Principal of the Weill Consulting Group, which focuses on improving the delivery of pulmonary, ICU, and transplant care.
He has twice testified before the U.S. Senate about how various inhaled occupational exposures affect lung health, appeared before various state legislatures, and lectured extensively nationally and internationally at major medical conferences and academic medical centers.
Dr. Weill has also authored many book chapters, editorials, and medical articles, which have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Salon, Newsweek, the Chicago Tribune, STAT, the Washington Post, The Hill, and the Los Angeles Times.
He also has been interviewed by many major media outlets, including Fox, CNN, the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Wall Street Journal, and the Doctors TV show.
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