Brian Goldman

Blogger, Doctor, Writer/Editor

I've been a staff ER physician at Mount Sinai Hospital for more then twenty years. I've been a writer broadcaster almost as along. Since 2007, I have hosted White Coat, Black Art on CBC Radio One in Canada. WCBA is a provocative show about the culture of health care. My specialty is getting inside the heads and hearts of health care professionals. In 2010, my first book, 'The Night Shift' was published by HarperCollins Canada. The book has me writing about what it's like to work in the ER during the graveyard shift. I use the book as a jumping off point to talk about what I think ails modern healthcare and how to fix it.

I want to make health care safer for patients by obliterating the culture of shame about making all medical mistakes. I also want to make health care more efficient, accountable and more human.

Making doctors and nurses feel bad about errors doesn't make them safer; it makes them want to cover up their mistakes. You don't need a family doctor or an internist to diagnose and treat a bladder infection. Instead of building a practice, doctor should aim to get rid of their patients by teaching them how to look after themselves.