Letter to a Young Female Physician: Notes from a Medical Life

“Medicine is an alliance of science and kindness,” writes physician and essayist Gavin Francis. I agree, but I find the nature of that alliance hard to define. Is one component more important than the other?

I was unable to move forward until I’d named what I wanted to leave behind.

In exchange for this independence we followed a set of unstated but universally understood rules: •Do not complain •Do not ask for help, except when a patient is about to die and you can’t think of anything else to do •Do not acknowledge exhaustion, hunger, thirst, the need to go to the bathroom and, most especially, menstrual cramps •Display a cal

The American Medical Association’s Code of Ethics states: “Physicians generally should not treat themselves or members of their immediate families.”

The prescribed separation between a doctor’s clinical and personal selves is now often called “professionalism.” Recently, this term has been challenged as possibly sexist, racist, and homophobic.

In recent years, it’s been recognized increasingly that patients who feel that their doctors care about them and relate well to them are more likely to express satisfaction with their medical care, take medications as prescribed, experience less pain and anxiety, have better control of conditions like diabetes and asthma, and are less likely to ini

While I possess no special knowledge about marriage, filial duty, or secondary education, I routinely offer opinions on these subjects, and I feel certain that doing so is as much a part of my role as a primary care physician as prescribing medication for high blood pressure, though I’m at a loss to articulate exactly why.

When someone you love suffers, you’ve failed to protect them. This may

it may not seem like it, but all your parents want is for you to be happy.