Medicine in Translation

Journeys with My Patients

by Danielle Ofri, M.D., Ph.D.

Neuron Overload

One day, I tried to work out how many details a doctor needs to keep spinning in her head in order to do a satisfactory job, by calculating how many thoughts I have to juggle in a typical office visit. (Is that even possible?) Read More

Meet Dr. Chan...

"Dr. Chan and Mrs. Geng (not their real names) eased out of their chairs in the waiting room using their matching wooden canes, the kind distributed by the hospital, free of charge. At 89, Dr. Chan was stooped and frail, his body paper-thin. He seemed as though he might topple over from the breeze generated by the opening and closing of the clinic door. Read More

The Debilitated Muse

"What happens when the poet faces illness? How is the poetry affected by alterations of the body and mind?"

"When I think about the definition of poetry, I have an image of the vast chaotic world being funneled through a narrow filter that is the poet. What comes out on the other side is an economy of observation about that chaos. Read More

Abortion: The View From Both Sides of the Street

Can Americans ever speak reasonably to each other about abortion? It seems impossible, given how polarized our country is. The emotions run far too deep on both sides. No one seems to be able to listen to anything anyone else says, even something reasonable. The assumption is that anyone on “the other side” is a complete fanatic, and every word from their mouth is pure propaganda. Read More

Can We Measure a “Good Doctor?”

Quality measures are all the rage now. Insurance companies and HMOs love them because they see them as ways to save money. Hospitals and medical organizations are flocking to them because they are

“Precisely two weeks after completing my medical internship, I proceeded to nearly kill a patient….”—Danielle Ofri, MD Read More

Facing Fatness

Stereotypes are being chased away in medicine—at least on paper. It’s no longer permissible to discriminate against women (and since women are likely taking over medicine, that’s a good thing!) The topic of race is verboten, as is religion. Cultural competency is everywhere in medicine, working to break down stereotypes of culture and language. Read More

An Immigrant’s Heart

The issue of immigration is more polarizing than ever. When it comes to health care, the emotions flare even higher. I’ve written a lot about my immigrant patients and medical issues. Online comments to these articles have tended to be extremely vitriolic, especially when I’ve written about my patients who are undocumented. Read More

The Residency Regulators are Back!

How many hours can a doctor work? Read More

Why Don’t Patients Take Their Meds?

The fine print of the 2010 Health Care Reform bill is still being analyzed. Shortcomings and limitations are being uncovered. But a new report from the Commonwealth Fund showed that there will be immense and immediate gains for young adults. Read More

Alone

We like to think of human beings as social animals, and by and large we are. Most of us exist in complex networks of siblings, parents, children, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and acquaintances. And usually we take this for granted. Read More

Shingles and Dollars

Good health is only affordable—for the majority of the population—if it is covered by insurance. An excellent case in point is the vaccine for shingles (herpes zoster).

Shingles is the revisiting of the chicken pox virus. The virus lives in the body since the first episode of shingles as a child, and then flares up during later adulthood to give shingles. Read More

Hospital Rankings: Bulk and Bunk

Every year the U.S. New & World Report publishes its rankings of the nation’s top 50 hospitals. Hospital administrators await this top 50 report with a tension and fervor that rivals the NFL first-draft pick. Read More

St. Vincent’s Hospital (1849-2010)

Locking the entrance to the emergency room: there could not have been a more potent image to the final day of St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York City.

After 160 years, St. Vincent’s closed because of financial problems. It was the only hospital serving Greenwich Village and the last Catholic hospital in Manhattan. Read More

Arizona—The Newest Soviet Republic

In a move that would fit right in with Stalinist governing style, Governor Jan Brewer signed bill SB-1070 into law, making it a state crime to walk the streets of Arizona without papers proving one’s immigration status. Read More

A Singularly Intimate Moment

When I published my first book—“Singular Intimacies: Becoming a Doctor at Bellevue”—I got a lot of ribbing from my friends about the title.

“Singular Intimacies?” they said. “What’s the book about—French lingerie?” Read More

Bellevue Makes Literary History

The Bellevue Literary Press is honored with the Pulitzer Prize. Paul Harding’s debut novel–Tinkers–won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in fiction. Read More

Calories and Health Care Reform?

Counting calories as part of health care reform—who knew? But apparently it’s there on page 455 of the health-care reform act, according to Marion Nestle, Professor of Nutrition at NYU, writing in the New England Journal of Medicine. There will now be a national effort at posting calorie counts in chain restaurants. Read More

The End of Private Practice?

A recent article in the New York Times noted a steady migration of doctors from private practice to hospital-owned health systems. The main driving force appears to be economic, that it is too difficult to run a business, especially when much of that entails fighting multiple insurance companies for reimbursement. Read More

Dance and Medicine

The mid-point of medical residency is probably the bleakest point in medical training. The daily grind of death and disease wears young doctors down, and the end of residency seems impossibly far off. In the second year of my residency at Bellevue Hospital, I began taking dance class at the Martha Graham studio in Manhattan. It turned out to be an unexpectedly visceral lifesaver for me. Read More

Burnout

Taking care of ill patients exerts an enormous physical and emotional toll. Caregivers of all types—doctors, nurses, therapists, family members—are susceptible to these strains. But reactions to these stresses are different. Some caregivers possess large emotional reserve and strong support systems. Others become cynical or callous. Read More

Urban Medicine

In most people’s minds, the term “urban medicine” stirs up associations of health care a la “Fort Apache The Bronx.” The reality is that the majority of Americans now live in urbanized areas rather than the small towns upon which many myths of America rest. Read More

Poetry in Medicine

When I make rounds with my students and interns, I always try to sneak in a poem at the end. I think poetry is important because it helps convey the parts of the medical experience that don’t make it into textbooks. It’s important because it teaches creative thinking—something of immense value to doctors. Read More

Music in Medicine?

The holiday season is finally over! Not to be a complete Grinch, but I am more than happy to see all the tinsel and reindeer and artificial snow come down from the halls of our hospital. Whether all that holiday ornamentation actually belongs in a hospital is fodder for a difference essay, but the part that I’m most glad about is that the piped-in music has stopped. Read More

Doctor-Writers: What Are the Ethics?

There is a veritable epidemic of doctor-writers out there. What is going on?

Are doctors suddenly in the kiss-and-tell mode? What about confidentiality? Professionalism? HIPAA? Read More

The Mammogram Debate: Whose Afraid of the Data?

The newest guidelines on mammograms have stirred up intense debate. But very little of it is about the numbers. It’s almost entirely about emotions. Whether it is individual women who speak poignantly about their own cancers or irresponsible politicians who talk about “rationing” to score cheap political points. Read More

Found in Translation?

“Je m’a…,” I stuttered to Aristede Mezondes, the serious young man in a grey wool overcoat, standing before me with ramrod posture. “Je m’appelle Dr. Ofri.”

There. I’d gotten it out. Read More

In Praise of Public Hospitals

Public hospitals have a bad rap. They’re viewed by many as hospitals of last resort, and most patients with private insurance do anything to avoid them. Read More

Swine Flu and You

The only preventative measures that actually prevent disease are vaccinations. Our world is an immeasurably better place since the advent of vaccines. Yet there is a complicated psychology that hovers like a fog around the idea of vaccination. In this week’s New England Journal of Medicine, I offer my perspective on “The Emotional Epidemiology of HINI Vaccination.” I invite you to read and comment. Read More