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
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
My Patient Doesn’t “Do” Vaccines
When my patient told me that he doesn’t “do” vaccines, I decided to try to understand his reasons, More
Should Med Schools Be Renamed for Donors?
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
Board Recertification: A Waste of Time?
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
Giving the Doctor a Second Chance
“Someone had said you were a good doctor,” my patient said derisively, “but I was not impressed.” What had I done? More
The Little Things
Although technically these are the little things, in a sense they’re actually the big things. Indeed, for some patients, the little thing may be the only thing that matters. More
Physician Suicide and the Tyranny of Perfection
Doctors have the highest suicide rates of any professional group. But losing two of our newest members within a week of each other is a painful reminder of the dangers of our profession. More
Medical Memoirs
Given the epidemic of doctor-writers out there, one could be forgiven for assuming that a book titled “Internal Medicine: A Doctor’s Stories,” written by a practicing physician, would be a work of nonfiction (and indeed, it is being marketed as such). But in the introduction, Holt writes that he is “recreating experience as parable,” More
Adventures in ‘Prior Authorization’
“Dear Doctor. We are writing to inform you that a prior authorization is required for the medication you prescribed.” That’s usually where I stop reading. More
The Physical Exam as Refuge
There are few situations where we expect to disrobe and have our bodies touched by relative strangers. But the physical exam is often the first moment that patients and doctors can talk directly, without the impediment of technology. More
