Facts and Questions about Aging in America

Dec 31, 2012 | Aging, Doctoring, Health Care, Patients

People over age 85 are the fastest growing segment of the population. People over age 85 have, on average, 15 contacts with health professionals per year. The number of people over age 85 will quadruple by midcentury. Already, there are more elderly Americans than...

First, Do No Harm: Writing, Blogging, Tweeting, and HIPAA

Dec 27, 2012 | Doctoring, Public Medical Communication, Writing

→ Medical students expelled. → Residents under investigation by state Medical Boards. → Practicing physicians in trouble with their Chairs, colleagues, communities. → Hurt and angry patients and families. Why? Because patient stories, written by medical students or...

My Christmas Books and The Importance of Being Alice (Munro)

Dec 26, 2012 | Writing

Under the Christmas tree for me this year:          This last book has made every top 10 list I have seen. Although the octogenarian author Alice Munro has been writing for decades, it’s only in recent years – since she received the Man Booker prize in...

An American Problem

Dec 20, 2012 | Patients

It has been hard this week in the wake of the Sandy Hook shootings not to think of children, and of all the ways in which they can be and are hurt. It has also seemed important to think about how we can help, if only by talking to the children we know and checking in...

The Importance of Statistics (even for writers…)

Dec 17, 2012 | Writing

Say the word statistics and people have very different reactions. Scientists, social scientists, doctors and the like might get excited. Statistics can help us understand the world. Good statistics provide confidence and legitimacy for decisions, programs, and...