A nurse ponders the role of hope in the clinical encounter and whether the holy can be found within the realm of medicine.
Read moreOn Being Confined
A retired hematologist explores the importance of clinical communication and health literacy by close reading two pieces published in this journal.
Read moreOn Sinatra, Bach, and Daughters: The Power of True Joy in the Face of Illness
A medical student reflects on the loss of their father to a devastating neurodegenerative disease as well as the power that music can hold during the illness experience.
Read moreThe Importance of Providing Compassionate Palliative and End-of-Life Care
A writer reflects on her own mother’s experience with death and dying and argues for the greater recognition of palliative care in the clinical encounter.
Read moreLeave Work at Work
Which story is heard, and by whom? Which story do people want to hear, and why? A COVID nurse provides explanations as well as recommendations about storytelling.
Read moreThe Embodied Connection in Patient-Provider Interaction
A former PICU nurse examines the power of both embodiment and gaze in the clinical encounter.
Read moreReligious Moments in Medical Practice by internist John Pierce
A retired physician reflects on his glimpses into religion and spirituality while confronting his patients’ illness and suffering—as well as his own.
Read moreAbsences in Cortney Davis' "It Was the Second Patient of the Day"
A writer and father ponders the power of absence in the clinical encounter, as well as the power of presence.
Read moreLet Me Speak My Free Mind into You: Seeking Genuine Connection in Medical Practice
A medical student examines two poems published in this journal in order to advocate for genuine connection in medical practice between patients and physicians.
Read moreAfter Testimony, Tribute
A testimony and tribute to one writer’s mother who passed away from COVID-19.
Read moreHungry for the Everyday: On Jennifer Abernathy’s "Hunger"
A nurse ponders the role of food in the ICU setting—as well as the hunger that it can stir and the memories that it can evoke.
Read moreOn Disability, Tools, and Dignity
What is the interplay between dignity and disability? A writer living with Ehlers-Danlos explains.
Read moreWhen Magic Meets Medicine: A Reflection on the Power of Play
Through poetry, a writer and community-based coach appreciates the magic at the borderland of the known and unknown.
Read moreTherapeutic Alliance: A Key to Effective Treatment
A retired nurse practitioner close reads a Field Notes essay published in this journal and emphasizes how shared identities and backgrounds can generate a more therapeutic alliance during the clinical encounter.
Read moreThe Sense of Being Lost in the Face of Illness and Death
How does grace manifest itself in the clinical encounter? And what of eulogy and testimony? A psychiatrist-writer explores two poems published in this journal to find deeper meaning.
Read moreThe Beautiful Surprise
What is the beautiful surprise that can be found in the clinical encounter between patient and physician? A writer and nurse explains.
Read moreHow Poetry Changed My Practice
A neurologist meditates on his “medical metamorphosis” into a physician—and how poetry served as a lifeline for inspiration and growth throughout it all.
Read moreA Transplant Patient's Reflection on Living While Dying
An artist and organ transplant recipient considers the isolation of her own illness experience and further explores these issues in her graphic medicine comic, published in this very journal.
Read moreFrom Both Sides Now...
In writing about psychosis, a psychiatrist contemplates whether a physician can ever truly understand a patient’s lived experience.
Read moreBeing More Than Just a White Coat
A visual artist explores the trusting relationship she shares with her psychiatrist—and how that fiduciary manifests itself through her photodrawings and studio art.
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