Humanizing Medicine: The Small Details
by Danielle Ofri Huffington Post “Angelina Gomez,” the medical assistant hollers out to the crowded waiting room. As always, I cringe when I hear this. It sounds so harsh, so cattle-like. I know that the assistant is actually a gentle and caring person, and I understand that he uses a loud voice so that he … More
Let Me Down Easy–Anna Deveare Smith
Every illness is unique, and every person faces illness in his or her own way. Anna Deveare Smith, in her one-woman show “Let Me Down Easy,” slips into the persona of twenty-one individuals who have faced an aspect of illness or death. In ninety minutes, Deveare Smith takes the audience on an existential scavenger hunt, … More
An Outbreak of Poetry (and Prose) at Bellevue
The waiting area in Bellevue Hospital was full. Every chair was taken. But the people kept streaming in. More chairs had to be brought in. It wasn’t clear if the room could accommodate everyone. This wasn’t the emergency room or the clinic waiting area, however. It was the scene of the Bellevue Literary Review poetry … More
Contagious–Book Review
In search of gripping plots and compelling characters, writers have always pilfered from reality. Plagues and epidemics—with their threats of mass destruction, overtones of divine retribution, nefarious villains and innocent victims—have particularly enthralled novelists. More
July 1st–excerpt from “Singular Intimacies”
“It suddenly dawned on me that I’d never had a lecture in medical school on how to tell if someone is dead.” More
Part-Time Medicine
At times, being a part-time doctor feels like I’m somehow shirking the Hippocratic Oath: I’m not there for my patients all the time like a doctor should. During my “on” days, I work furiously like all of my colleagues. But on my “off” days, I am officially off. More
Resistance–Review of Abba Kovner’s poetry
Abba Kovner–leader of the Vilna ghetto uprising–was also a remarkable poet. His book of poems entitled “Sloan Kettering” is well worth the read for its lessons in history, mortality, medicine, and beauty. More
Poetry Ward
Toxic sock syndrome. That’s the first thing we noticed when we entered the hospital room. For those gentle readers who are not familiar with such sensory assault, toxic sock syndrome is the clinical term for the rank odor that accompanies damp, fetid feet that have seen more street time than shower time. More
Evidence-Based Medicine
Evidence-based medicine often induces more confusion than clarity. It also means different things to different people. 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.
Missing the Final Act
Diseases, like dramas, have a natural progression. There are introductions, developments, climaxes, and dénouements. 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
Judgement Call
Is the quality of a judgment call determined only by the outcome? Or does it stand alone, with the outcome irrelevant? More
Autopsy Room
Our first stop was the morgue. The cavernous walk-in refrigerator was icy and silent. Here were the unclaimed bodies, mostly elderly men from the streets. The ones that were never identified, never claimed, went to our anatomy lab. More
