Opinion: Medicine warns doctors not to get too close. I’m glad mine did anyway
Imagine a medical system that embraces doctors’ emotional investment in patients as a strength rather than a liability.
The morning of the procedure, Dr. Z greets me with uncharacteristic solemnity. “How are you feeling?” she asks, and I hear the question behind the question: How close is too close?
For as long as I could remember, the hospital had been a second home. By age 5 I’d memorized the familiar litany: “Full name, date of birth, no allergies to food or medication.” During morning rounds, I invented a silent game: contorting my face into increasingly ridiculous expressions to engage the few doctors whose eyes drifted from their charts. I was looking for someone who could see both me and my medical condition. This is the story of two physicians who took the time to know me, and by doing so, changed the course of my life.
