medical school

Imagining Vesalius

While we typically envision the brain as a palpable whole, the spidery latticework of nerves is a more ephemeral affair. At best the nerves come across as limp linguini, flopping languidly over whatever bone, muscle or organ offers a convenient landing pad. Seeing the nervous system entirely disembodied is revelatory. More

Trial and Error

When I look back at the trial-and-error method of my medical training, I’m frankly horrified at what was considered a routine approach to training—placing sharp objects and critical conversations in the hands of medical fetuses and letting them loose on living, breathing patients. The practice of medicine needn’t entail actual practicing on our patients 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

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

Danielle Ofri on NPR’s ‘The Takeaway’

Danielle Ofri is interviewed by NPR’s John Hockenberry on ‘The Takeaway’ about whether medical school makes students jaded and bitter. More

A Singularly Intimate Moment

When I published my first book—“Singular Intimacies: Becoming a Doctor at Bellevue”—I got a lot of ribbing from my friends about the title. “Singular Intimacies?” they said. “What’s the book about—French lingerie?” 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

Books by Danielle Ofri

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