We often think that medical progress marches in a straight line, but that is not the case. Some ideas change the field rapidly, while others sit by the sidelines for decades before being accepted. Others are accepted by the medical profession like a fad only to fall...
Over the past month an ancient sculptural masterpiece has been on temporary display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Greek and Roman halls. On loan from Rome’s Museo Nazionale Romano, “Boxer at Rest” depicts a battered pugilist immediately after a...
Beginning in 1964 the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) started publishing full color images of art on its cover accompanied by insightful essays. JAMA’s former editor, George Lundberg, wrote that this was part of an initiative to inform readers about...
In the summer of 1977 I traveled to Europe carrying a sketchpad. These were my last months of freedom before entering medical school, and I had doubts about whether I was making the right decision. My acceptance letter was hard-earned, but I rationalized the decision...
Mr. W. was brought to my office in a wheelchair by one of his daughters for a problem with his leg. In his late eighties and ravaged by age, his skin was pale and swollen from anemia and congestive heart failure, and a gray beard was draped over his chest. While...
In November 2010 I photographed aging prisoners in Angola State Penitentiary in Louisiana. After the GSA meeting in New Orleans I drove 150 miles through the wetlands, past Baton Rouge, then north up Highway 66. The facility was surrounded by 12-foot razor-topped...
