Bookend
Face to face with Ray
In the clinic and on film, an exceptional patient is a teacher without peer.
Over the last four years, I have listened to hundreds of patient stories as a medical student taking histories. Not all stories are equal in their impact, and some are so profound that one begins to see patients differently. The story of Ray has stayed with me for four years and will, I think, color my experience with every patient.I first encountered Ray in the dermatology clinic in the Yale Physicians Building. I poked my head in, greeted him, and closed the door. I stood there for what seemed an eternity, mouth agape, as I gawked at the lesions that festered on every inch of his skin. Tumors the size of golf-balls appeared to be in a sort of limbo, not sure whether to remain embedded under the skin or to...
From Other Issues
Fall 1999 | Winter 2000
10,000 house calls and counting
The familiar, rhythmic tones interrupted my pre-dawn reverie that early-spring morning. I rolled out of bed and made...
Summer 1999
Our generations
When my oldest daughter, Lydia, was four years old, she announced that she wanted to be a nurse when she grew up.“Why...
Winter 1999
Can’t talk now
I met him in the emergency room. As a third-year student, I now performed many basic procedures on a daily basis but...
Summer 1998
The four humors weren't that funny
Laughter, they say, is the best medicine. But can laughter cure Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus? Let me put...
