<span itemprop="author">Francisco M. Torres, MD

As a pain management physician, I often receive requests to authorize or renew patients’ accessible parking permits. These usually are routine, but not always. One morning, a patient, whom I’ll refer to as Steve, came into my clinic. Steve …

An excerpt from Beyond Diagnosis: Perspective in Medicine and the Human Experience. As my career advances, I have been reflecting on this increasing standardization and what sometimes seems to be a dehumanization of medicine in the United States. While…

I started having children towards the end of my medical school. By the time I became a resident, I already had two young boys. My wife was also a pathology resident at that time. We worked hard and were fortunate to have parents who helped us occasiona…

The healing potential of human interaction should always be considered, particularly when practicing medicine. Early in my medical career, I worked in the electromyography laboratory at Charity Hospital, Louisiana State University. During my time there…

I was recently reminded that you always learn something from your patients, no matter how long your medical profession is. I was reminded of this when I had the opportunity to treat a young person in transition. I reviewed the chart before walking into…

Treating patients with respect and dignity is essential to the medical profession. This is true even when the patient lies unconscious in the operating room. It seems unnecessary to stress the importance of creating a secure and comfortable environment…