Articles & Media

JAMA review of “Incidental Findings”

In several stories Ofri recounts her own experiences as a patient. She is surprised at how different things are on the other end of the doctor-patient relationship. Ofri discovers firsthand how poorly doctors prepare their patients for procedures and explain findings that may be ordinary in medicine but are frightening to patients.The writing is engaging, and I highly recommend Incidental Findings to anyone who wants to read a short, well-written, and thought-provoking book. More

They Sent Me Here

“They told me to give you this,” she said, as she pushed an envelope across the desk toward me. I’ve always been intrigued by who “they” are — those mystery people referred to with such assumed authority and universality. Particularly in a large city hospital, in which the staff is mammoth and constantly changing, “they” constitute a particularly encompassing force. More

Evidence-Based Medicine

Evidence-based medicine often induces more confusion than clarity. It also means different things to different people. More

Residency Regulations—Resisting Our Reflexes

Our instinctive resistance to change reflects not just nostalgia, but the fact that our years of medical training define us in an iconic fashion unique to this profession. Medical training sets social, clinical, and moral barometers by which decades of professional and personal life are gauged. These brief years imprint a personal definition in a manner not seen in other fields: one rarely hears MBAs clucking about crumbling standards and the days of the giants—most view the younger generation with unabashed envy. More

A patient’s heartache, lost in translation

A conversation is a dance between two people, and it involves connection. Speaking through an interpreter, whether it be a human being in the room or a phone handed back and forth, doesn’t allow the same sort of connection. Patients are much less likely to reveal sensitive issues when there is a third-party in the conversation.

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JAMA review of “Singular Intimacies”

In “Singular Intimacies” Ofri chronicles her training in an adept and touching manner…I found Singular Intimacies extremely engaging. It contains an accurate portrayal of life as a doctor-in-training in a big city hospital. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants an easy-to-read yet thought-provoking book. More

Rationing Patient Care–NPR

Commentator Danielle Ofri is a physician at a big New York City hospital. She tells the story of how a poor patient had little choice but to wait months for a specialist; this would not have been the case if the patient had money. More

Missing the Final Act

Diseases, like dramas, have a natural progression. There are introductions, developments, climaxes, and dénouements. More

Torment

I groan when I catch sight of her name on the patient roster. Nazma Uddin. Not again! She is in my clinic office almost every month. I dread her visits, and today is no exception. More

The Patient vs The Illness

So often in medicine we make it sound like the patient is responsible for the clinical outcomes of their illness. More

Unknown Asian Male–NPR

Commentator Dr. Danielle Ofri tells the story of a patient who was found singing John Denver songs and appeared to be mentally disturbed. But he was simply a victim of poisoning. He’d been given scopalamine, which thieves use to cause amnesia in victims. And luckily, there’s an antidote. More

Judgement Call

Is the quality of a judgment call determined only by the outcome? Or does it stand alone, with the outcome irrelevant? More

Prescribing Good Health–NPR

Commentator Dr. Danielle Ofri tells of one of her patients who was in apparent good health, but who was stuck in low wage job. She knew from statistics that people with such jobs have greater risk of dying early. So she tutored him in his SATs so he could get into college. More

Tools of the Trade

I was ashamed to admit it, but I was perversely thankful for the numerous comatose patients on my service because they made rounds faster and left more time to concentrate on the active GI bleeders, the patients in DKA, the ones with gram-negative septicemia, and the ones who spoke English. More

NEJM review of “Singular Intimacies”

Ofri is a gifted writer. Her vignettes ring with truth, and for any physician or patient who knows the dramas of a big-city hospital they will evoke tears, laughter, and memories. Indeed, any reader, physician or not, will find in Singular Intimacies the essence of becoming and being a doctor. More