RWL #191 - the Good Life, Careers & Calling, Mammogram Frequency, etc.
Greetings from the University of New Hampshire! Week one back to the books is in the books! All of my classes are in person - at least for now (knock on wood). Lecturing to a huge room that is ⅕ filled with everyone wearing masks and me in a flimsy faceshield flopping around when I move, while trying to stay in line with my laptop camera so I don’t go out of view of the students on Zoom was… interesting. The masks conceal so much of a person’s expression that it really mutes the visual feedback you get when you are speaking. But so far, so good. The students are being really compliant about their mask wearing, which is impressive. I think they all want to stay and they know what is at stake.
I was able to get out for a lovely morning paddle up the Squamscott. Pic above is of the Lavender Lady up on the Adventure Van. The Adventure Van almost became history this summer when the A/C went out. At 16 years old and 185,000 miles, I was on the bubble about dumping $800 into a car with a $2,000 book value. I confess I’m a little sentimental about the Adventure Van at this point. Also, new cars are expensive! I’m not a car guy. I’ve always seen cars as primarily means of getting from Point A to Point B. And I can throw my smelly, muddy gear in the back and not care about it. So as long as I can keep the Adventure Van running, that’s how I’ll continue to roll.
Stay well and stay safe.
Read
What: WSJ, A Good Life Doesn’t Mean an Easy One
https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-good-life-doesnt-mean-an-easy-one-11598623184?mod=djemwhatsnews
Why: This was a really interesting study to read about. I’ve been thinking and talking about the difference between hedonia and eudaimonia for years in the context of defining what is a good life. From the article: “What makes a good life? Philosophers have offered two classic answers to the question, captured by different Greek words for happiness, hedonia and eudaimonia. A hedonic life is free from pain and full of everyday pleasure—calm, safe and serene. A eudaemonic life is a virtuous and purposeful one, full of meaning.” I’ve always argued in favor of eudaimonia because I think few people at the end of their lives get wistful about one more trip to the buffet. Instead, they usually worry about their legacy. But this study suggests a third component, psychological richness, which I think is really interesting.
“ According to this view, a good life is one that is interesting, varied and surprising—even if some of those surprises aren’t necessarily pleasant ones. In fact, the things that make a life psychologically rich may actually make it less happy in the ordinary sense. After all, to put it bluntly, a happy life can also be boring. Adventures, explorations and crises may be painful, but at least they’re interesting. A psychologically rich life may be less eudaemonic, too. Those unexpected turns may lead you to stray from your original purpose and act in ways that are less than virtuous.”
If you can’t access the WSJ article, the actual article is ungated here: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s42761-020-00011-z.pdf
So maybe it’s not one more trip to the buffet, but the chances you never took that haunt you. I don’t think psychological richness runs contrary to eudaemonia. I think you can have both. And having both is probably a better life. I’ll be thinking about this one for a while.
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What: HFMA, Telehealth became a necessity during the COVID-19 pandemic, and experts say it’s here to stay
Why: Short article from the perspective of finance on telehealth. I am personally so excited about the advances on this front. Going to the office to be seen is such an enormous hassle, especially when many complaints can be dealt with through telehealth. If there’s one good thing to come out of this pandemic, it is breaking through the dam blocking services flowing into telehealth. A nice quote:
“Video visits, however, allow a physician to see how a patient lives and assess social determinants of health in ways an office visit can’t, Sinha said. For example, she can ask to see prescription bottles or the food in the patient’s refrigerator. She can see if a patient has family helping and advise them on proper techniques to perform routine health checks. All this information can be helpful in the course of treatment, particularly for chronic conditions.”
I look forward to a day when telehealth is the standard, and going to the office triggers a premium. Women in healthcare: Moving from the front lines to the top rung
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What: McKinsey & Co, Women in healthcare: Moving from the front lines to the top rung
Why: As a professor in a health management program, I am acutely aware of the gender disparities in healthcare. My undergraduate classroom is 80-90% filled with young women, depending on the year. I educate the entry level managerial workforce. And then I also see how many senior roles are filled by men, which is interesting, since they are such a minority at the beginning. The report does a nice job documenting the statistics on this. I understand the historic gender imbalance in nursing, but I don’t understand why my classroom doesn’t have more young men in it. On the flip side, I do think it is unfortunate that there isn’t better representation in health management at the top. With a service industry like healthcare, I do think it is important to have good representation of the community in leadership. An interesting read - lots of graphs.
Watch
What: MRU, The Surprising Effect of Mammogram Recommendations
https://mru.org/courses/economists-wild/surprising-effect-mammogram-recommendations
Why: Current guidelines recommend women get mammograms starting at 40. This video highlights the research of three economists working to answer whether this recommendation is appropriate. There are some interesting points in here about the incidence of cancer, whether populations that follow the guidelines are the same as the populations that don’t follow the guidelines (spoiler: they’re not), and what the costs are (not just the cost of getting the exam, but the cost of false positives).
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What: TED, David Epstein, Why specializing early doesn’t always mean career success
Why: I read David Epstein’s book Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. I thought it was very interesting. He outlines his core premise in this talk, that most truly exceptional people had varied early careers before settling on the field/task that they become truly world class. They go through period of dabbling and experimenting. He also talks about “kind learning environments” vs. “wicked learning environments”. The difference is stability of the environment and speed of feedback (kind = stable, quick feedback; wicked = dynamic rules, feedback is often murky). His essential argument is there is value to having a broad based education and openness to learning. The world is clearly moving toward wicked environments, and probably always has been. Maybe the industrial revolution gave us the false impression that the world was “kinder” than it ever really was.
Listen
What: Becoming Wise, Father James Martin, Who We’re Called to Become (6 min)
https://onbeing.org/programs/who-were-called-to-become-james-martin/
Why: This is a very short (6 minute) interview with Jesuit Priest James Martin who writes about careers and callings. It’s not a religious discussion. He asserts everyone has a calling, and it is important to discern that calling. It’s worth 6 minutes.
Thanks for reading and see you next week! If you come across any interesting stories, won't you send them my way? I'd love to hear what you think of these suggestions, and I'd love to get suggestions from you. Feel free to drop me a line at mark.bonica@unh.edu , or you can tweet to me at @mbonica .
Also, if you find these links interesting, won’t you tell a friend? They can subscribe here: https://tinyletter.com/markbonica
See you next Friday!
Mark
Mark J. Bonica, Ph.D., MBA, MS
Assistant Professor
Department of Health Management and Policy
University of New Hampshire
(603) 862-0598
mark.bonica@unh.edu
Health Leader Forge Podcast: http://healthleaderforge.org
'It is the small things, everyday deeds of ordinary folk, that keep the darkness at bay. Simple acts of kindness and love.' - Gandalf (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey)