WRITER * ARTIST * DOCTOR * PATIENT * MOTHER
It seems that lately, doctors spend more of our time working to prove to patients that our counsel, informed by years of rigorous training, should be trusted more than their cousin’s Facebook post, a random Wikipedia page, or a stranger’s Instagram feed … It’s time to bring our communication out of our clinics, operating rooms,…
Medical school teaches us open-ended questions are best. We are told to avoid interrupting patients, allow them get their whole story out before we jump in—to prompt them only with nods or gentle “hmmm’s” and maybe a “tell me more.” But years of practice can erode this open style. Experience focuses our questioning to what…
Much like a tree, illness can branch in different directions. When you are at the trunk, it can be difficulty to know along which branch your illness will travel. Why the story of illness matters in my latest article for Doximity.
I’m excited to share that my piece “Harvest Moon” is first place winner in the nonfiction category of the 2019 Bellevue Literary Review Prize. It will appear in the Spring 2019 issue.
Her face was not one meant for poker. Her pursed lips emitted “pfffs” and “hmmphs” and her eyes rolled as I spoke. Her hips shifted and squirmed in the vinyl chair while her son stacked otoscope tips in towers on the linoleum below. The emergency department can inure one to such displays of frustration. My…