Richard D. Sontheimer is a dermatologist.

The miracle of immune checkpoint inhibitors: a physician’s unforgettable journey

Medications
January 22, 2025

Even a half-century later, a physician cannot forget the first death of a patient under their care. It happened for me during my postgraduate medical training in the 1970s in an academic medical center hospital in the western half of the United States.

She was a delightful young married woman who was the mother of three small children. She was admitted to the hospital for recurring seizures. Her workup revealed a …

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The miracle of immune checkpoint inhibitors: a physician’s unforgettable journey

Is skin really the largest organ? The truth might surprise you.

Conditions and Diseases
August 26, 2024

While driving to work one morning, I heard a radio commercial for a men’s fragrance product. In that commercial, the male actor boldly stated that “the skin is the largest organ.” Additionally, I had heard or read this same statement several times earlier that same week.

Dictionaries define dictum (synonyms: saying, proverb, maxim, aphorism) as a formal pronouncement from an authoritative source or a short, pithy expression identified with a particular …

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Is skin really the largest organ? The truth might surprise you.

A Father’s Day golf game to remember

Physician
February 6, 2023

It started with an early morning drive to the golf course on the day before Father’s Day.  It was a beautiful spring day in the Southwest, and the Man had it all to himself.  However, the second half of the day would belong to others — his wife, his kids, his house, and his job.  He was hoping for a quick 18 requiring no mental gymnastics beyond that of a …

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A Father’s Day golf game to remember

Hope, with a ribbon of uncertainty curling gently around it

Physician
August 27, 2022

A tall, thin, down-glancing man slumped in a chair in the corner of the exam room.

His gray-haired wife sat primly next to him.

They were here with their adult wheelchair-bound daughter.

For the past two decades, the daughter had been under their constant care at home.

A chronic progressive illness had wreaked havoc on this young woman’s body.

Her adult life had been held prisoner by an insidious neurologic disorder.

She was having a problem …

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Hope, with a ribbon of uncertainty curling gently around it

Should your child try for medical school?

Medical Education
July 15, 2022

An essay from 1989.

Some day one of my children will likely ask what I once asked my stepfather, “Dad, do you think I should try for med school?” I feel that it will most likely be our inquisitive middle child, Clayton John (“CJ”). And, when that time comes, what will I say to Mr. CJ?

For many physicians in the past, the answer to this question would have been a resounding, …

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Should your child try for medical school?

When it comes to end-of-life care, perhaps we do need a bigger hammer

Physician
September 25, 2015

While sitting one evening with my terminally ill elderly mother, she again asked me to help her end her suffering.  This time it was, “Could you just go get the hammer and hit me in the head?” Her previous requests had included “Son, you are a doctor, can’t you do something to help me with this?”  And then, “They treat animals better than this.”

On previous occasions, I had to remind …

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When it comes to end-of-life care, perhaps we do need a bigger hammer