#126 Have I Become an Influencer?

Yes, one person at a time.

Adding to my modest resume of published works are two chapters that I wrote for a new emergency medicine text that was published in the summer of 2024. The editors put out a request for contributors to An Emergency Physician’s Path: What to Expect After an Emergency Medicine Residency (Springer) and I answered the call. At that time during pandemic lock-down, I was looking for a few things to do.

I contributed two chapters. One was on my favorite topic, how to deal with “difficult” patients and their families. I also wrote a chapter about paying it forward in retirement. For the first topic, I featured the lessons of my book: Changing How we Think about Difficult Patients: A Guide for Physicians and Healthcare Professionals. That topic came together easily.

For the second chapter, which is the last chapter of the book, I featured some of my own experiences along with the stories of several of my friends who found themselves at the end of their careers who had pivoted elsewhere. Many of these folks had long careers as emergency physicians and when that path ended, they felt they still had significant contributions to make.

Where they went and what they did may surprise a few people. Because of the constraints of medical malpractice insurance coverage, it is not easy to volunteer as a physician in our own communities. To circumvent this issue, I thought I might go overseas.

I tried twice to go to Haiti to provide much needed healthcare to a rural community. The first time, I had to some home after an eye-opening weekend in Port-au-Prince when a family medical emergency arose. The next year, all missions were abruptly cancelled when carloads of people were coming under attack by rioters as they left the Port-au-Prince airport.

I hope that An Emergency Physician’s Path has a positive influence on the thousands of medical students and residents who contemplate entering an emergency medicine residency. Each one of them has the potential to heal and to save thousands of lives during their careers.

Turning to Teaching

I turned my attention to writing, teaching, and mentoring. I kept my eyes and my mind open for opportunities and they seemed to fall right into my lap. Several of my essays were published on-line and I audited a college course on medical ethics taught my one of my friends. She set the condition that I had to teach one of the classes. Two good things happened because of this opportunity.

I put together an interesting presentation on ethical issues of medical training. I learned a lot from doing the research. Then I was able to share those lessons and some of my own experiences with the students who were eager to enter various careers in healthcare. Secondly, I started to mentor some of the students who came to realize the invaluable resource that I could be as an experienced physician who had seen practiced in the settings of both community and university hospitals.

Exerting Personal Influence

On a very personal and important level. I influence many friends and family members who come to me for medical advice or a more simplified explanation of what the heck is going on here with their medical issues. I provide a calming voice to help allay their fears and to put much needed context into the confusing clinical situations.

Mainly, people come to me to ask why a problem or issue is being handled in a certain way. What is the thought process behind the approach so that they can understand. To have a friend explain what happened and why in terms a non-medical person can understand. has been invaluable to these folks. I know this because they tell me how much it helps them and their families. I call is micro-influence but for the person involved, the understanding is everything.

Influencing what People Read

Another request came from the editors of The DO magazine, a once print but now online periodical for osteopathic physicians. They were seeking to transition to an all-physician edited and written product. I answered that request with the intention of becoming one of the contributors to a book review column titled “The DO Book Club.”

I recently chatted with a retired physician who was quite disappointed that there was not an actual book club that met to discuss the book that was reviewed each month. I agreed that this fact was the sad reality for the physician magazine readers who were already busy with their practices, their charting, and their families. Some of the reviewed books, such as The Covenant of Water by Dr. Abraham Verghese, were quite long and would take a multi-week and month commitment to finish.

Since starting on this project in January of 2020, I have reviewed about twenty books and read far more. Some reviews cover two books by the same author. The column emphasizes books written by physicians, medical memoirs, and patient memoirs. I have had the privilege to correspond with some of the authors before and after the reviews appeared. This has been a real treat. I also publish the reviews on my blog and on Medium.com.

Many authors have reached out to me to read and review their books. I have also been asked to write some blurbs, which are the short recommendations that are printed on the back cover, the front few pages, and in the marketing copy online. I am not sure what influence I have, but as other authors lent their influence to me, I am endeavoring to do the same for them.

Several aspiring authors have also reached out to discuss their projects and their dreams of publishing. From my limited experience and what I read on social media, I understand that the odds are long to get a traditional publishing contract. There are alternatives with independent publishing and small press hybrid companies. Authors can put their work out into the world but who will read it?

The marketing and self-promotion aspect of selling books is a daunting prospect, even for those authors who go through some traditional publishing routes. There are podcasts, speaking engagements, and reviews to procure. I follow some authors online and I note that they, too, seem to get overwhelmed by the process.
I also mentor young folks regarding their career choices and the composition of the essays that they must write for their residency applications. Although I have never worked in admissions, I do know how to recognize and edit a good story and a few cogent paragraphs. Students, residents, and authors may contact me through my website: https://www.drjoannaidorf.com/

These messages do get through to me. Several folks have reached out to me so that I can speak to their residents, nursing staff, and other audiences. Any program directors and coordinators can reach out to me through my website above. I recently spoke at my husband’s medical school reunion at Eastern Virginia Medical School and at a children’s rehab facility in New York. I wrote about my beautiful New York experience here.

Influencing Clinicians Through my Book

I devote much my energy to influencing all the nurses, physicians, and other clinicians who are struggling with challenging patient and family interactions. Despite our best efforts, encounters go badly and leave clinicians feeling frustrated and cynical. We can do a lot better with these interactions and we do not have to count on the patients or their families to change. Learning to change how we think about challenging patients can make a remarkable difference. It is truly a revelation.

You can read about it here: https://medium.com/illumination/the-myth-of-the-difficult-patient-806cff4a50a3 and here https://www.drjoannaidorf.com/after-emergency-medicine-blog/the-myth-of-the-difficult-patient . You can also buy my book in either electronic, paperback, or audio versions available here and most major retailers.

Let me influence you.