“Where a prisoner refuses nourishment and is considered by the physician as capable of forming an unimpaired and rational judgment concerning the consequences of such a voluntary refusal of nourishment, he or she shall not be fed artificially.” …
Category: Medicine
BRCA: Beyond the Pink Ribbon
In recent weeks, much attention has been given to a topic that previously had not crossed the minds or conversations of most of the general public: prophylactic mastectomy. It was not until a figure known world-wide chose this course of action for herself that the preventative measure became common knowledge. All of a sudden, everyone…
Beauty & Morbidity
It has been several years since I last looked at pathology slides under a microscope, identifying the different cells and patterns that constitute normally functioning organs and understanding mechanically how structure dictates function. The specialized myocytes of the heart contract in an interwoven manner to orchestrate a contraction. The glandular cells of the thyroid secrete…
The Dangers of Uninformed Autonomy
“There is a dignity in dying that doctors should not dare to deny.” [ Anonymous] Today, a patient I have been helping to take care of died. I and the medical team knew that she would die soon, but for the past 18 days, we have been sticking little bandaids on various components of her…
Lessons from (other people’s) faith
“God has no religion.” Mahatma Gandhi Approximately one week into my elective in Palliative Care, I am learning to bite my tongue when it comes to discussions on religion and faith. My own religious persuasion has evolved and devolved over time, and I cannot pinpoint any specific game-changing factors in the process. What I do…
Yellow
Whenever we admit an especially nice patient to the hospital whose diagnosis seems worrisome and somewhat elusive, we assume the worst — cancer. Of course this has no scientific basis whatsoever; it is simply the experience that all of us have collectively had throughout our training. Such is the case with a patient I admitted…
Three
Being a medical student in North Philadelphia and then going on to residency in New Orleans have shaped my view of medicine and the vast injustices people face. Most of my clinical rotations in medical school dealt with the underserved and uninsured population. These are hands down the most challenging patients to treat for reasons…
pen . paper . storm 