Bookend
Can’t talk now
A student reflects upon life on the wards and looks for ways to improve communication.
I met him in the emergency room. As a third-year student, I now performed many basic procedures on a daily basis but this case was a first for me. The physical examination was unremarkable until I discovered a large, bleeding, irregular mass where his prostate should have been. From that moment, I knew the man had cancer.Subsequent work-up confirmed diagnosis, metastatic rectal carcinoma, but what disturbed me most was that, as far as I could tell, nobody informed the patient for over 36 hours. Yet in that time he was subjected to a series of rectal exams by grave-faced physicians. A biopsy and CT scan were performed to confirm suspicions. Within 10 minutes of my discovery, we were already detailing his poor...
From Other Issues
Summer 1999
Our generations
When my oldest daughter, Lydia, was four years old, she announced that she wanted to be a nurse when she grew up.“Why...
Spring 1999
Face to face with Ray
Over the last four years, I have listened to hundreds of patient stories as a medical student taking histories. Not all...
Fall 1999 | Winter 2000
10,000 house calls and counting
The familiar, rhythmic tones interrupted my pre-dawn reverie that early-spring morning. I rolled out of bed and made...
Summer 1998
The four humors weren't that funny
Laughter, they say, is the best medicine. But can laughter cure Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus? Let me put...
