May 5, 2020 | Doctoring, Elderhood, Writing
On the afternoon of Monday, May 4 2020, I was in clinic – well, pandemic clinic. I was sitting at my home desk talking to a patient via Zoom on my smartphone while charting into our electronic medical record on my computer. Suddenly, a flurry of emails and other...
Jan 19, 2016 | Doctoring, Patients, Writing
This month I focus exclusively on writings by and about the writer-neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi, who died last year at age 37. I didn’t know him, and I only met his wife briefly years ago. So this isn’t personal or coyly promotional. It’s just admiration and awe for a...
Sep 19, 2015 | Doctoring, Writing
These days, there are a lot of doctor writers. A handful have become household names. One or two dozen more have significant talent and impact, mostly in non-fiction but also in fiction and poetry. Hundreds – maybe thousands? – more write regularly for blogs and...
Feb 7, 2015 | Aging, Doctoring, Health Care, News and Updates, Public Medical Communication, Social Media, Writing
Great writing comes in many shapes and sizes, from a single sentence of stunning lyricism or profound insight to an epic novel that captures a particular time and place in all its complexity, or an essay that succeeds as much because of its form as its content....
Aug 9, 2014 | Aging, Health Care, Patients, Writing
Recently, a pediatrician friend remarked that people – patients’ parents, friends, strangers she chats with briefly in airports and coffee lines – were always asking her for recommendations on the best books about childhood. I had to admit that I don’t get many...