No more
Doctor, do you hear the terror in my broken tenor? It is but a muffled, garbled front for what, set free, unaltered, would shatter the very windows. and with them, all these vials, within which my sick blood swirls. And those thin panes of
Category Archives: Daily Dose
Top 10 Causes of Death in the United States: In Limerick Form
#1: Heart Disease There once was a megalomaniac Who suffered a sudden heart-attack He thought himself best But failed the stress test Vanquished by coronary plaque A man once had hypertension His vessels protesting in distention He simply couldn’t halt His intake of salt Not
How would you best care for the President? Why Biostatistics should matter to every physician
I made an astonishing discovery recently. There’s a screening program that could have reduced President Barack Obama’s risk of dying of lung cancer by 20%, or even 33%, while he was in office. Were his physicians careless, or does a “33% reduction in risk” not
He Who Gets Out of Medical School First, Finishes Last
Four years of undergraduate education, four years of medical school and then residency—that is the winding road to becoming a doctor in the United States. It is long, expensive, and compared to just five years of medical school followed by residency in Pakistan, seemingly ridiculous.
Our Year in Review
Dear readers of Doctors Who Create, Thank you for being our fans and supporters. We know many of you are busy, but we’ve been encouraged by your excitement over our posts and the eagerness of the DWC audience to see more. We are a team
Caring for People by Caring for the Planet
According to the World Health Organization, over 8.2 million people died in 2012 because of the effects of air pollution. The United Nations environmental agency estimates that one in four deaths globally are due to environmental degradation. Adding an additional estimated 250,000 deaths annually from
When screening becomes personal: Why Biostatistics should matter to every physician
I introduced in an earlier post the idea that statistics can be both deceiving and revealing about the complex world around us, especially as they relate to screening and medical care. Notably, I believe that we might approach these discussions differently if the numbers represented
Doing Harm?
As the first day of gross anatomy closed in, I tried to prepare myself. The problem was I had few comparable experiences to draw upon—which, when it comes to slicing open a human body, is definitely not a bad thing. There was one dissection in
An Open Letter to You, My Patients
Dear Standardized Patient Number 1, and Number 3, Mr. C from the 3rd Floor of the Reinberg Building, and Ms. P from across the hall, dear Mr. L from just last Thursday, and the Mrs. L I’ll meet one day, Did I ever say thank
What are my chances, Doc? Why Biostatistics should matter to every physician
Numbers and statistics may seem to be the furthest thing from creativity. They are objective and unwavering. Yet numbers can tell stories, and the pictures they paint can dramatically alter the interactions that physicians have with their patients. Consider the following example: Your patient undergoes
Cadaver 4
While the city sleeps tucked beneath a dark embrace my mind hears yours. Talk. I am listening. Though nothing but a frail soul beating in basement of cadavers answers. I know you are here. In the heartbeat of silence I imagine a house, a car,
Sitting on the High
Sitting on the high granite ledge overlooking the fog as it drifted onto the valley floor, obscuring the golden headlights as they weaved on hidden roads, carrying hidden lives, I finally felt a semblance of peace. I had come here to escape the tragedy that
Inspired
For you I would spend the next four years of moonlight squinting my eyes into the blinding luminescence of an Anatomy atlas, dancing with the skeletons in my Netter’s notecard stack until they become like you, everlasting striations of my latissimus dorsi; and for you
O Kidneys, my Kidneys!
After my recent month long affair with the kidneys, I decided to turn my affection into an ode of farewell, in the style of Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain!” O Kidneys! my Kidneys! our fearful trip is done, Old heart has given in at last,
Provocations on Infrastructure: Age
The last king raised the funds to build the hospital. Projects of this scale is difficult to achieve without an expansive capital or a groundswell of public support, and bonds were sold in order to finance the construction of the medical center of Ethiopia, in
My SP Disease
“Did you notice what you were doing there with your hands? You were going like this,” he said, wringing his hands into knots. “I could see how uncomfortable you were and that made me uncomfortable. Does that make sense?” “Of course,” I said, “I would
The Limits of Optimism
In front of an audience of first-year medical students, a teenage boy with one eye sat with his mother. They told a story of triumph, even miracle: brushes with death, an eye removed, cancer overcome. This young man has become a star baseball player despite
Meet the DWC Team
We are excited to announce that since our launch in April 2015, we have expanded the Doctors Who Create staff. We are a team of dedicated volunteers: attendings, residents, medical students, post-bac pre-meds, and undergraduates, all passionate about the DWC mission. Read our team page to learn
When I Die, Let Me Live Podcast
Medical decision-making near the end of life has been complicated in recent years by advents in the biomedical sciences, which have enabled clinicians to provide advanced life sustaining treatment for patients. What evidence shows, however, is that patients with serious illness are seldom discussing their
Atul and Ezra
Ezra Klein, writer and founder of Vox Media, interviews “surgeon, writer, researcher, dilettante” Atul Gawande for his podcast The Ezra Klein Show on Panoply Media. (Ezra can’t contain his utter excitement at doing this interview, which he says he has wanted to do “for a
