Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Gentle Men

  • Ladies in hats

    Alan Blum Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States   I was encouraging an overweight patient in patent leather shoes with two-inch heels to start wearing sneakers instead, when she calmly reached into her totebag and pulled out a pair of Nikes. The pumps, she explained, were her “comin’-to-the-doctor shoes.” Her finest footwear was a sign of respect.…

  • Gentle men

    Alan Blum, MD  Alabama, Tuscaloosa, USA As a medical student at Emory, I began adding sketches and snippets of dialogue to my charts as a way to spend more time with each patient, to focus more closely on the patient’s expression, and to try to capture the essence of our encounter. I do not use…