Articles & Media
Mothers in Medicine
We in medicine are inculcated in the culture of deferred enjoyment, of sacrificing our lives now for some distant rose-colored, board-certified future. But here’s the breaking news: No chapter with unlimited time and resources is ever going to magically open up in our lives. No fairy godmother will miraculously graft 8 hours onto your day or stock your house with groceries or impress the 16 kinds of vasculitis into your cingulate gyrus. More
Doctor Visit Guide
Going to the doctor isn’t most people’s favorite activity. I often get asked by friends and family how to make the most of a medical visit. Here’s my advice, and it’s basically the same whether you are the patient, or a family member or a caregiver of the patient. More
In Search of a Beloved Teacher
“Written and Illustrated by…†These words were written on a blackboard in September, 1971, in crisp, authoritative chalk. This was practical magic, unfolding on our laminate pressboard desks every single day. Ms. Zive handed us power, and it was exhilarating. More
A Tax Plan that’s a Medical Emergency
Three members of the U.S. Congress are physicians. But they seem to share a collective amnesia about the Hippocratic Oath. The bill being proposed by Republicans is about taxes, but the toll on our health could be worse than the toll on our wallets. More
Patients vs Paperwork
Like some virulent bacteria doubling on the agar plate, the EMR grows more gargantuan with each passing month, requiring ever more (and ever more arduous) documentation to feed the beast. It’s time to take action. More
The Most Powerful Tool in Medicine
Danielle Ofri speaks at the Mayo Clinic about conversation as the single most powerful tool in medicine. More
Viva Italiano!
Ciao! We are thrilled that “What Patients Say, What Doctors Hear” is now available in Italian. Grab an espresso and your copy of “Cosa dice el malato, cosa sente il medico.” More
Danielle Ofri’s TED Talk on “Deconstructing Perfection”
Shame, guilt, fear—you can’t tally these on a spreadsheet, but they are the biggest elephants in the room when it comes to medical error. Danielle Ofri makes a powerful, against-the-grain case about perfection that could lead to dramatic improvements in care and ultimately could save lives. More
Medical Humanities: The Rx for Uncertainty?
A large part of our medical maturation is facing uncertainty and then accepting it into our fold. This is far harder than memorizing all those rare diseases. The humanities can offer doctors a paradigm for living with ambiguity and even for relishing it. More
One Last Visit to See My Patient
My 91-year-old patient and I had been together for some 20 years — honestly I’d lost count — so visiting her at home, even in the torrential rain, was the least I could do. More
Nothing Glamorous about Opioid Addiction
Pain stands nearly alone as a medical condition that not only can’t be measured but that patients might also have an ulterior motive to lie about. I never wonder if a patient is lying when she says she is constipated or has a vaginal itch. But the reality is that there’s not much street value for Metamucil, and there aren’t any rehabs filled with recovering Monistat addicts. More
How We Treat Our Fellow Americans
The blossoming truth of “No Apparent Distress†is that a segment of American society has been casually cast aside, left to scavenge on the meager scraps of volunteer health services, and failing that, left to die. Some politicians might call this “choice.†A more medically accurate term would be abandonment. More
AJN Review of “What Patients Say, What Doctors Feel”
Can any of us, nurses or physicians, say that we always listen as well as we should, giving each patient’s story our full attention? Like physicians, nurses feel the unrelenting pressure of time constraints. Ironically, such listening can save time in the long run. More
ReachMD Book Club
Danielle is interviewed by Maurice Pickard for the ReachMD Book Club.  Listen to the conversation about how the quality of the doctor-patient conversation can have a direct effect on medical outcomes. More
“Review of Systems” Podcast
Danielle is interviewed by Audrey Provenzano for the podcast “Review of Systems.” Listen to the conversation that covers communication, doctor-patient relationship, medical activism, and what happens when patients gain more power in the conversation that physicians. More
