“What’s your specialty?” This question continually flummoxes me. This is the moment that I experience a brief surge of envy toward my cardiology and dermatology colleagues who have simple one-word answers to this question that any lay person can understand. More
Medicine is unquestionably harder than it was 10 years ago. Many more doctors I know talk about quitting (an option that is not equally available to patients). However, there’s been no mass exodus of doctors. We doctors grumble loudly — often with good cause — but we aren’t quitting in droves, mainly because of patients like Ms. M. More
It’s like our patients are Humpty Dumpty, and the pieces are divvied out between different medical fields. Can we put the patient back together again? More
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
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
Doctors, it turns out, aren’t much different than everyone else when it comes to where they die. More
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
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
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
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
What if a patient dies and nobody is there to mourn? Is it like a tree falling soundlessly in the forest? More
When my patient told me that he doesn’t “do” vaccines, I decided to try to understand his reasons, More
24 of the country’s 141 medical schools sport a donor’s name rather than the plain old university name. The pace is increasing, as are the number of eyebrows being raised. More
It used to be that you tackled the medical board exams just once after residency. Then you went into practice and never looked at a No. 2 pencil again. More
“Someone had said you were a good doctor,” my patient said derisively, “but I was not impressed.” What had I done? More