During the first months of COVID-19, the threat was unmistakable. Hospitals were stretched to capacity. ICU…
Category: Insights
Why relationship-centered care matters in medicine
I started volunteering on Saturday mornings out of a feeling of restlessness. Having been in primary…
Patient ownership is the key to a better health care system
I have practiced medicine for 45 years. In that time I have learned that the biggest…
Administrative burden is driving severe physician burnout
You trained for years to become a physician so you could heal people. Yet every day,…
Recognizing structural drift and institutional failure in health care
Most institutional failures appear sudden. A hospital collapses under regulatory scrutiny. A leadership crisis erupts. A…
Pharmacy closures threaten our entire public health system
We turned pharmacies into the backbone of public health during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Then we…
Knee replacement marketing undermines informed consent
She came in having done the work. She had watched the clinic videos. Read the website.…
Surviving a hospital blizzard as a physician on call
The recent record snowstorm in New England got me all in a deep wintery nostalgia. I…
A humorous parody of medical specialties and the modern patient
Prologue As a practicing gastroenterologist for more than 50 years, now emeritus, I was privileged to…
Artificial intelligence is changing medical writing today
The moment was small, almost trivial. I handed my daughter her polished curriculum vitae (CV), clear,…