I’ve been thinking a lot about death. No, I’m no more depressed than usual, and I’d tell you if I were. I’m thinking about death in the Atul Gawande Being Mortal way, the way Shoshana Berger writes so eloquently about in an outstanding essay. Palliative medicine, I’m hoping beyond hope, is finally starting to make […]
We Do It the Same Way Every Time
Once he’s finished positioning the retractor just perfectly, he has a pristine view and is ready to start the meticulous work of the anastomosis. He silently reaches out his hand and the scrub tech hands him the loaded suture that every other attending in the department uses for the outer layer, but as this surgeon […]
Stop Running
There’s a young man in green scrubs running from the hospital. He’s running along the sidewalk, focused look on his face. He’s not trying to keep the stethoscope in his pocket from flopping around, and he’s not trying to run away from anything; he’s not looking over his shoulder, he’s not looking around to see […]