She sat on the exam table with her eyes closed, back straight, completely still. She was in her late 30s, a mother of young children, a professional. Months earlier, she had undergone extensive surgery for head and neck cancer, followed by radiation. The treatment was brutal. Part of her jaw was removed, and she required skin grafting. Then, she underwent multiple weeks of radiation to … Continue reading Between Pain and Suffering
Im not afraid of dying, she said, smiling at me. I feel like Im on a runway, about to take off. Her words, spoken with such clarity by a woman facing two advanced cancers, have stayed with me. As a palliative care physician, I wish more patients felt empowered to face their mortality with such openness. But the truth is, we, as a society and … Continue reading What If This Is the Best I’ll Ever Feel?
When Efficiency Trumped Narrative Here’s an odd thing about modern medicine: We have perfected the art of medical storytelling for over 4,000 years but have spent the last few decades systematically destroying it. Doctors have always been storytellers first, from ancient Egyptian scrolls to medieval Islamic physicians carefully documenting case histories. Until we decided efficiency mattered more than narrative. Today, we stand at another pivotal … Continue reading AI and the Future of the Patient Narrative: The Rise of (a)iRecord
A few weeks ago, an elderly patient with advanced metastatic cancer came to see me in my palliative care clinic. She did not speak English. She came in with her daughter, who translated as the patient did not wish to use an interpreter. She told me about her worsening pain. We had a good visit; I got to know the patient and her daughter a … Continue reading Not just Bones and Muscles
“What is especially sobering is to see that all three pillars that support intrinsic motivation (below) – the primary driver of physicians’ behaviour – have been reconfigured and altered by the healthcare system changes of the last few decades” Continue reading Physician Burnout and the Pandemic
The potential benefits of #telemedicine are many and easy to appreciate during normal times; but as our experience grew in the first weeks of the #COVID19 #pandemic, it became clear that telemedicine is not for everyone. Continue reading Are You Wearing Your White Coat?
Marcin Chwistek, MD 