Second Opinion articles

Recent articles from Second Opinion

Chronic illness and the goals of medicine.
July 1, 1995... AS A PERSON WHO HAS LIVED WITH MULTIPLE sclerosis for more than 20 years, I am perhaps especially aware that, in spite of the undeniable advances achieved in modern medicine, something is amiss. The predominant focus of medical care and medical education (a focus that relies almost exclusively...

Physician, suffer thyself. (physicians should experience a major illness or injury in order to relate with their patients)
July 1, 1995... IT IS MY BELIEF THAT EVERY HEALTH CARE worker, and especially every physician, should have the opportunity to experience a major illness or injury at least once in his or her career, and, indeed, perhaps more than once. In no other way can the subtleties of feeling empathy for the sick and...

Living without hope. (learning to live in the present)
July 1, 1995... PANDORA DIDN'T DO US ANY FAVORS. Legend says she slammed the lid shut on the box of evils she had opened before Hope could fly out. Now, what was Hope doing in a container full of evils? Why would the gods have included Hope among "all the Spites that plague mankind: such as Old Age, Labour,...

Salmon is normal. (physician with breast cancer copes with unreality)
July 1, 1995... IN HER DREAM, THERE WAS AN INTRUDER in the house, a frightening presence. She found herself sliding close to the wall as she tried to become invisible, tried to find a way to escape. Then, outside, she saw a group of people standing on the lawn. Her husband was there, and her children, as well...

Connections that heal. (coping with breast cancer)
July 1, 1995... ELIZABETH TYSON DESCRIBES HER LIFE with cancer in this eloquent, troubling, and frightening essay, and her writing has corporeal effects on the reader, reproducing the affective climate of fearfulness and dread. The first time I read the piece, I felt physically anxious, realizing how long it...