Sublime

List-making is an essential part of the medical profession, central to how doctors think. Doctors deal not so much in facts as in possibilities. For each symptom, we make a list of plausible explanations, alternate scenarios, like in the Japanese film Rashomon, where a story is told from several perspectives. Except in differential diagnosis, as th

Distracted

WE COME UNBIDDEN into this life, and if we are lucky we find a purpose beyond starvation, misery, and early death which, lest we forget, is the common lot. I grew up and I found my purpose and it was to become a physician. My intent wasn’t to save the world as much as to heal myself. Few doctors will admit this, certainly not young ones, but subcon

The job of any doctor, Bludau later told me, is to support quality of life, by which he meant two things: as much freedom from the ravages of disease as possible and the retention of enough function for active engagement in the world. Most doctors treat disease and figure that the rest will take care of itself. And if it doesn’t—if a patient is bec