She came back three weeks later, sicker. She had been seeing a physical therapist for her lower back pain. At her last visit she mentioned that her cough was getting worse. He said nothing, and she did not push it. She assumed if it mattered, he would have said so.
What she did not know was that she had been told she was seeing “the doctor.” Not a physical therapist. The …
Institutional misrepresentation harms vulnerable patients
A patient comes in with hip pain. It is not dramatic hip pain. There is no trauma and no fall. It is just a gradual ache that now wakes her up at night. She cannot sit comfortably. Getting in and out of the car is harder, and she is worried. The X-ray is normal. Now what?
In another era, this is where medicine began, not ended. It began with history, examination, …
The cost of time constraints in primary care: Why doctors feel rushed
Medicine prides itself on early diagnosis and decisive treatment. We are trained to recognize patterns, apply categories, and follow pathways designed to reduce uncertainty. This approach saves lives. But there is a quiet point at which it can also cause harm.
That moment occurs when diagnosis becomes closure.
I recently spoke with a young woman in her 20s with endometriosis. She had done everything medicine asked of her: sought care, underwent surgery, …
When diagnosis becomes closure: the harm of stopping too soon
I am a physician that was placed in a unique position. I was hired as a private contractor to work for three months in a remote medical setting on Wake Island.
Wake Island is a remote island approximately 2000 miles west of Hawaii, with a population of 150+ people.
Wake Island is unique in that it is a mid-Pacific refueling stop for military aircraft. …
A physician and her COVID-free island
Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.
