Mr. R. is 68 years old and has not seen a physician in many years. “I’m old school—I never went to the doctor unless something was wrong.” At his age, he is beginning to see his friends develop various ailments and decided a check-up wouldn’t
The alarm rings through the hallway and resonates with the chorus of vibrating beepers. One can almost feel the adrenaline in the room as everyone perks up their ears, stands up, and rushes out of the room. An emergency is afoot. Someone is dying, or
To read about the previous Stanford MedX days, click here: Day 1 and Day 2. The third and last day of MedX started off with a strong cup of coffee and multiple attempts to put up my poster without having it roll back around me.
This is second in a three-article series. To read about Stanford MedX Day 1 first, click here. How do we design better care experiences for both patient and provider? Today at the MedX conference at Stanford, the day started with 2 minutes of silent meditation—in a
This weekend is my first time attending Stanford MedX, a conference designed around innovation in healthcare. I’m here representing Doctors Who Create, and blogging about some of the things that are making me think. One of the things that excited me about this conference is
The mom in my office was exhausted; three weeks without sleeping will not make anyone happy. I was trying to comfort her, making her understand that she has to give up the superwoman syndrome and rest. Leave pride aside and get help for at least
His hands are cold As his lifeless body Lies upon the table At the coroner’s office. My mom is beside me Stroking those fingers, Tears rolling in waves Down her cheeks. I watch in horror, The reality is only now Beginning to sink in To
Where is that mysterious place that we send all our “labs” to? Everyday, we round and round on the wards, wake up patients, and poke and prod them to get an idea of what they have and get a sample of their tissue. As the
On valentine’s day, I watched my first heart stop. I watched the monitor dance as I thrust my aching palms onto his sternum. He lay there, still while his body was rocked and jabbed and compressed in between, he seemed. His body still moaning and
A recent article in the journal Cancer that focused on racial disparities in cervical cancer mortality has garnered widespread attention. The article, “Hysterectomy-corrected cervical cancer mortality rates reveal a larger racial disparity in the United States”, was reported on in a New York Times Health
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
#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
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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