emotions
History & Physical podcast series
Danielle Ofri discusses preserving empathy as a medical student, how she started writing, the role of narrative medicine, and the consequences of algorithmic medicine. More
Incidental Illness
How, in the quiet world of outpatient medicine, does one know when a life is saved? More
Our Silence Around Dementia
Dementia is not something we doctors talk much about. We all have many patients with dementia — and more every year — but we never seem to chat about it the way we discuss kidney disease or cancer treatment. Why the silence? More
Why Doctors Write
How does writing affect a doctor’s practice of medicine? What are the ethics of writing about patients? Should patients be part of the process? Watch the full program broadcast on WGBH -Boston. More
Acne
A young Navajo woman files silently into my office, making no eye contact. As she slips into the chair errant strands of black hair spill across her face. Through the breaches I catch glimpses of her rich dark skin riddled with the pockmarks of severe acne. More
The Small Costs
We all hear about “health care costs,†a lumbering behemoth that dominates the news. But it is the smaller amounts, literally the pocket money, that often has the strongest effect on the concrete currency of health. Sometimes doctors find themselves in the position of offering their patients a few dollars to help with a co-pay or transportation home. More
Why Doctors Don’t Take Sick Days
From day one in medical training, the unspoken message is that calling in sick is for wimps. Most doctors ignore their symptoms and resist taking the day off unless they are sick enough to be hospitalized in the next bed over. What explains this toxic brew of denial, ignorance and bravado? More
When Doctors Share With Patients
Doctors often “self-disclose†to patients in an attempt to empathize. But contrary to what might be expected, such self-disclosures often turned out not to be helpful in addressing patients’ concerns or building rapport. More
NYU Stories review of “What Doctors Feel”
A rare glimpse into the effects of shuttling from patient to patient without being allowed to process the powerful feelings—fear, anger, grief—that naturally arise when lives are at stake. More
The Raw Fear of Being a Patient
At that moment, my faith in science plummeted from beneath me. My decades of medical training, my Ph.D. in biochemistry, my grounding in the scientific method, all evaporated in the blink of an eye. More
Clinical Correlations review of “What Doctors Feel”
As the saxophone virtuoso Charlie Parker said, “If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn.†More
Science-Based Medicine review of “What Doctors Feel”
A patient might reasonably say “I don’t give a damn how my doctor feels as long as she gets me better,†but emotions affect everything we do, influencing clinical decisions and patient outcomes. More
Talking about Medical Errors
Doctors and nurses are petrified of making mistakes. They don’t want to kill their patients! But mistakes are inevitable and it’s critical to have a safe place to talk about and address the emotional aspect of medical errors. More
Hidden Curriculum of Medicine
Why do students lose touch with what drove them into medicine by the third year of school? Danielle Ofri talks about the hidden curriculum of medicine and its effect on students’ empathetic skills. More
Developing Empathy
Developing empathy requires good role models during clinical training. Those role models aren’t just your professors and your attendings. Teachers are everywhere in medicine, if you just keep your eyes open and pay attention. More
