Articles & Media
Should Doctors Care About Happiness?
We in the health care professions need to notice and inquire about happiness the same way we do other aspects of our patients’ lives. More
A Doctor in the Neighborhood
There aren’t any ethical guidelines about where a doctor should live or how she should behave when she and her patient are in line at the grocery store. More
Danielle Ofri discusses Oliver Sacks on NPR’s ‘Science Friday’
Danielle Ofri discusses Oliver Sack’s memoir “On the Move” with Maria Popova and Annie Minoff on NPR’s Science Friday. More
Patients, and Doctors, Aren’t Dying at Home
Doctors, it turns out, aren’t much different than everyone else when it comes to where they die. More
Danielle Ofri on NPR’s ‘Only Human’
Danielle Ofri joins host Mary Harris of “Only Human” to share doctors’ confessions. In this case, Danielle “confesses” what it was like to be a patient. More
The “Mall-ification” of Health Care
Retail health clinics have exploded over the last 10 years, and now it seems like every other big box store, supermarket and shopping mall has its own clinic. More
Getting the Diagnosis Wrong
Diagnostic accuracy is fiendishly difficult to measure precisely. A new report suggests that nearly everyone will experience at least one diagnostic error in their lifetimes. More
Getting the Diagnosis Right
If I had the luxury of an hour with each patient, I would have the time to carefully sort through every diagnostic possibility. But the reality is that I, like most doctors, have five to 10 minutes to push the majority of diagnoses to the bottom of the list, come up with the most likely few at the top. More
Adding Spice to the Slog: Humanities in Medical Training
As soon as we’d finish rounds on the medical wards I’d race to pass out an Anatole Broyard essay in the nanoseconds before dispersal entropy overtook our team. More
The Pain Med Conundrum
Under-treating pain violates the basic ethical principles of medicine. On the other hand, we are lambasted for over-prescribing pain medications. What are doctors to do? More
Storytelling in Medicine: the Passion and the Peril
So much of medicine is about stories—the ones we hear, the ones we tell, the ones we participate in—that it is no accident that doctors and nurses are attracted to stories. More
Interview about Technology and Medicine
Danielle Ofri talks about how technology is mixing with medicine. Everything from electronic medical records to home fitness monitors to how emotions can dominate even the most advanced technology. More
Racing the Diabetes Marathon
Diabetes can feel relentless and obstinate. Is there a toenail or ribosome out there that is not suffused by the tenacious diabetic tentacles? More
Fear of Dying Alone
What if a patient dies and nobody is there to mourn? Is it like a tree falling soundlessly in the forest? More
Ethics of Money in Medicine
Just because money is a reality in medicine, doesn’t mean that we have to blindly accept all the consequences. There is a code of ethics in medicine. More
