“I don’t know if you understand, Doc, what kind of man this is.” The man who spoke appeared to be a few years my junior. He was speaking of his father, who is one of my patients at the local Veteran’s Home, where I am a relative...

Why would a toothache bring Ted Larson to the emergency room when he already takes half a dozen morphine tablets per day for his chronic back pain? Why did Bridget Hall’s fibromyalgia pain seem to escalate after her last doctor gave her long-acting...

Dinner conversations in medical families can be less than ordinary. Tonight we were talking about how to choose antidepressants for different types of patients. My wife, who worked side by side with me for many years as a Nurse Practitioner, is now...

Working with students always makes you think about why you do certain things the way you do them and why you may feel more strongly about some things than others. Today, in talking with one of my students about how to do a history and physical exam, I...

Emily Green knew there was a lump in her right breast. She was a new patient I saw a few weeks ago. Her previous doctor had sent her for a mammogram last year, but she had not come in for a clinical breast exam. She was a busy professional, who...