Blog Posts
The Patient’s Voice
What does your doctor hear when you talk? by Danielle Ofri published on CNN.com August 23, 2010 Whenever a patient asks me about the side effects of a particular medication, I point to the very long roster of symptoms listed for the drug. “It’s anything any patient has ever experienced,” I say, then try to... »
Owning Up to Medical Error
Ashamed To Admit It: Owning Up To Medical Error By DANIELLE OFRI, M.D. Published: Aug 3, 2010 Health Affairs journal (also in Washington Post). Precisely two weeks after completing my medical internship, I proceeded to nearly kill a patient. July marked the start of my second year of residency at New York City’s Bellevue Hospital, and it was... »
The Role of Touch
Not on the Doctor’s Checklist, but Touch Matters By DANIELLE OFRI, M.D. Published: Aug 3, 2010 New York Times. A new patient comes to my office, a healthy middle-aged woman. The medical assistant has already documented her normal blood pressure. Of our allotted 15 minutes, I spend more than two-thirds talking with her. I ask about her personal medical... »
Unemployment and Health
When Unemployed Means Unhealthy Too. By DANIELLE OFRI, M.D. Published: July 29, 2010 New York Times “I used to have a doctor,” she said, matter-of-factly, “but when I got laid off six months ago I lost my insurance.” Ms. C. shifted in her chair while I took notes during our first medical visit. “So I... »
Facing Our Prejudices
Danielle’s new essay on doctors facing our own prejudices with obese patients, on a new website called “The Responsibility Project.” “I had to be honest—I was uncomfortable with my new patient, a woman in her late thirties, in my office for a general medical check-up. Ms. M. was petite in stature,... »
Residency Regulators are Back!
How many hours can a doctor work? The residency regulators are back. About ten years ago, the national organization that accredits residency programs (ACGME) set out its first guidelines about how many hours a doctor-in-training can work. Interns and residents finally achieved the vaunted 80-hour workweek. (New York State was 15 years ahead on this,... »
The Pastor’s Son
Read the first chapter of “Medicine in Translation” in the medical humanities journal Hektoen International. “There was a sharp rap at the apartment door. When Samuel Chuks Nwanko opened it, he saw a young man standing in the hallway wearing a stained denim jacket over a University of Nigeria T-shirt. The whites of... »
Why Don’t Patients Take Their Meds
A good chunk of every medical visit is spent writing prescriptions. Before we had an electronic medical record, this was often an arduous task, leading to serious writer’s cramp. Now the computer makes it easier on the doctor, but it doesn’t seem to have much effect on the patient.... »
Two Steps Forward for America’s Health
The fine print of the 2010 Health Care Reform bill is still being analyzed. Shortcomings and limitations are being uncovered. But a new report from the Commonwealth Fund showed that there will be immense and immediate gains for young adults. Most young adults “fall off” of their parents’ health insurance plans once they complete their... »
A Patient, a Death, but No One to Grieve
By DANIELLE OFRI, M.D. Published: May 17, 2010 New York Times “My patient’s body was unclaimed, and it had already been sent for burial by the time I learned of his death on a Thursday afternoon. It had happened on Saturday, at another hospital. He hadn’t left any next-of-kin contact, and it had taken... »