The Germans probably have a more precise word for it, but it’s close to schadenfreude as an outsider to watch a professional group agonise over who they are, whether they […]
Columnists
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Phlegmatic
The second of Galen’s four fluid humours of the body, φλέγμα, was associated, when in supposed excess, with a phlegmatic temperament, “not easily excited to feeling or action; stolidly calm, […]
Richard Smith: Finding meaning in life through neurosurgery
Paul Kalanithi, a neurosurgeon, wanted badly to understand life and its meaning, and he knew that to do so he would need to understand death. So when in his 30s […]
“Our language is funny—a ‘fat chance’ and a ‘slim chance’ are the same thing”: Helping artificial intelligence understand patients
Google is in hot water. First of all, the artificial intelligence (AI) focused branch of the organization, Google DeepMind, recently held a public meeting on the hot topic of accessing […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Drugs and medicaments
When is a drug not a drug? The word “drug” first appeared, in various forms, in Middle French and English in the late 14th century, without recorded antecedents. It originally […]
Richard Smith: The challenge of high need, high cost patients
A challenge to all health systems is how best to manage “high need, high cost patients,” a term developed by the Commonwealth Fund. Its president, David Blumenthal, discussed the best […]
Richard Smith: Being creative in developing primary care
Primary care covers the whole population, but it’s underfunded and has increasing difficulty recruiting doctors; and there are worries about equity and the quality of care. This could be the […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Sanguine—hopeful, not bloody minded
The first of Galen’s four fluid humours of the body, αἷμα, blood, was associated with the temperament that came to be known as sanguine, from the equivalent Latin word, sanguis. […]
William Cayley: What is your story?
Much has been written in recent years about “narrative medicine” or “narrative based medicine,” and there has even been discussion of how to integrate “narrative” and “evidence based” medicine in both journal […]
Richard Smith: Teaching children to make better health decisions
After 30 years of trying to teach clinicians, policymakers, journalists, and patients the basic concepts of deciding if claims about health interventions are valid, Andy Oxman, one of the originators […]