Arriving in a train station in a Northeast city the other day, I was struck by the number of advertisements for proton therapy at a local academic medical center (AMC) plastered throughout the station and in local subways. The ads feature a bicycle racer with the tag line: “THE WIND IN YOUR FACE IS WORTH… Read more »
Blog Category: Letters from the Foundation
Why Professionalism Matters: A Patient’s Point of View
As an employee of the ABIM Foundation, I’ve batted around the phrase “medical professionalism” for several years but it didn’t really hit home for me until I encountered it – and the lack thereof – as a patient. Over the past six months, I’ve logged a few miles in the frequent patient program. I underwent… Read more »
Incurable and Irreversible
My Argentinean mother-in-law is 95 years old and suffers from advancing dementia. She has lived with my sister-in-law for the last eight years and both of her daughters are considered her caregivers. A person comes to the house for about seven hours a day to assist her in activities of daily living. After suffering what… Read more »
It Was Just a Cough: Wasteful and Potentially Harmful Medicine
Over his recent winter break, my 26-year-old son went skiing in Idaho. Fully insured on COBRA, he went to a free-standing urgent care facility in his small resort town for a cough. No culture was taken and he was never asked if he was taking any medications (which he is), but he did receive the… Read more »
The Case for Choosing Wisely® and American College of Emergency Physicians
The nine specialty societies that were part of the launch of the Choosing Wisely campaign in April were courageous in identifying medical tests and procedures that physicians and patients should question. More than 20 additional societies will be issuing lists in 2013. They should be commended for their leadership and putting the interests of their… Read more »