As a patient who has had extensive dealings with five prestigious Manhattan medical institutions, I have taken the liberty of writing this letter from the perspective of one who has spent many long and arduous years in the underbelly of our deeply troubled health care system, and one who has seen firsthand how the doctor-patient relationship has steadily eroded over time. This relationship, so foundational to the practice of medicine, is in crisis.
While doing your undergraduate degree, it is important not to spend all your time shadowing, taking science classes, and preparing for the MCAT. Study literature, history, and the arts. In the absence of a humanities education, people are transformed into automatons and desensitized to the suffering of others. With the dramatic rise of specialization, the importance of the humanities only increases.
The first question every doctor should ask when walking into an examination room is “How are you?” — not “How is your gallbladder, retina, or liver?” — but “How are you?” In this way, you are acknowledging that the patient is a unique individual and not merely a malfunctioning organism.
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