My Own Country is a memoir written by Abraham Verghese in 1994. Dr. Verghese is a physician and writer born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Abraham Verghese shares insights about his struggles and identities in a different country and the people he meets. Verghese's background influences his perspective and approach to healthcare. His memoir focuses on his time as a doctor in Tennessee during the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. In My Own Country, Abraham Verghese describes his perception of the AIDS epidemic uprising, and he emphasizes the mental and physical difficulties faced by those who were affected. Some descriptions were how his patients looked physically, and the other was the deterioration of their mental health. Abraham Verghese connects well with patients from diverse backgrounds by understanding and …show more content…
He states, "The patients were earthy and appreciative and spoke a brand of English that made diagnosis a special challenge," (Verghese 20) describing the unique people he had to adapt his practice to. His adaptation to terms like "high blood" for hypertension, "low blood" for anemia, and "bad blood" for syphilis not only demonstrates his willingness to communicate effectively but also signifies a deeper integration into his patients' lives. Building rapport is a major concept throughout his memoir. Dr. Verghese's approach to patient care is distinguished by his commitment to understanding and connecting with patients beyond their medical diagnoses. One notable example of Dr. Verghese building rapport is his interactions with the HIV community and the Appalachian community. His empathy exceeds societal stigmas, as he sees past the AIDS diagnosis to recognize the humanity of each individual under his care. Throughout the memoir, Dr. Verghese's journey shows the emotional rollercoaster he endured throughout this period. From struggles to eventual successes, demonstrates how cultural competence in healthcare may have an important effect. Verghese
The medical values learned in chapter 11 are, emotional detachment, professional socialization, clinical experience, mastering uncertainty, mechanistic model, intervention, and emphasis on acute and rare illnesses. The three that I mainly care about are, emotional detachment, mastering uncertainty, and clinical experience. Emotional detachment is a very important medical value because this can strongly affect not only the patient but the doctor as well. The doctor is supposed to sustain emotional detachment from patients. (Weitz 276). A doctor should try and keep their distance because their emotion can strongly affect the patient. How a doctor reacts or approaches a situation will show how they are with emotional detachment. Mastering
This quote centers Henrietta Lacks’ story around the same questions that have driven the Doctoring course: What does it mean to care for others? And how do we ensure that we care for our patients first as people, rather than as a disease? In many ways, Henrietta Lacks’ story is a textbook case in how not to be a good physician. In examining and learning from her story through the lens of Doctoring, we can inform our own practice and
Campbell, Colin. "A Quarrel Over Weimar Book." The New York Times 23 December 1984, p1,35.
Bearing undergoes a series of examinations, she comes across Dr. Jason Posner, who is a former student of Dr. Bearing’s. Dr. Posner, much like Dr. Bearing, is a complete scholar, motivated solely by the possibility of discovery. One can immediately tell from his interactions with Dr. Bearing, that Dr. Posner is not exactly the most hospitable physician. He asks Dr. Bearing how she is feeling today but he asks not because he is genuinely interested in her answer, but because by doing so he satisfies the need to empathize. In one particular scene, Dr. Posner is preforming a pelvic exam on Dr. Bearing and lets out an alarming gasp when feeling her tumor. He does nothing to console or comfort Dr. Bearing and upon finishing the exam, he leaves quickly and abruptly. This tense and uncomfortable situation is quickly contrasted with Nurse Susie Mohanan’s response. In this terribly awkward moment, Susie offers Dr. Bearing a tissue and sympathizes with her simply by being there. The contrast between Dr. Posner and Susie in regards to the way in which they treat Dr. Bearing is strikingly different. This juxtaposition is further exemplified when Dr. Bearing becomes ill from all numerous rounds of intensive chemotherapy treatments. Dr. Posner insensitively diagnoses Dr. Bearing with fever and neutropenia, but at the same time vehemently refuses to lower her treatment doses. Susie tries to argue that Dr. Bearing’s quality of life is clearing suffering, but Dr. Posner will have none
An Imperial Presidency Writers of the constitution intended for congress to be the most powerful branch of government. They invested in the president: the powers of the monarch, but subjected him to the democratic principles of accountability which was ensured by a complex system of parliamentary and judicial checks and balances. For over a century the US got along fine with a relatively weak president whose major role was simply to carry out the laws and policies made by congress, however, there has been erosion in this system. Presidential power only started to grow after the 19th century when the US set out on its path to empire.
Jamison describes another medical figure in her life that she referred to as Dr. M. Dr. M was Jamison’s primary cardiologist, a figure who is involved in some of the most intimate details of Jamison’s life. However, Jamison describes Dr. M by saying she, “…wasn’t personal at all” (14). Dr. M would actually record personal information about Jamison on a tape recorder, however, Jamison would hear Dr. M referring to her as “patient” instead of by her name. This example demonstrates that Dr. M was indeed putting in the minimal effort needed to keep her clients, however, no additional effort was put into the process of learning about her patients. Jamison says that, “…the methods of her mechanics [were] palpable between us…” (18). Dr. M would not even put any effort into disguising her lack of interest of getting to know Jamison. This atmosphere of apathy that is exuded by Dr. M naturally causes Jamison to retract from Dr. M, which creates an environment that is not good for cultivating
“A healthcare provider’s bedside manner encompasses their medical knowledge, personality, and ability to understand the patient and communicate their concern for them.” (Britt). Although some individuals don’t see the importance of communication and emotional connection with patients in the medical field, doctors who have problems properly interacting with their patients will have a lower chance of success in healing them. Doctors receive so much education but are never taught proper bedside manners, which is the way that physicians interact with patients. In order to ensure a patient’s comfort, psychological well-being, and physical health, a physician must truly understand their patient.
7 May 2014 After the Civil War, the victorious Union enacted a policy of Reconstruction in the former Confederate states. Reconstruction was aimed at creating as smooth a transition as possible for the southern states to re-enter the Union as well as enacting economic and social changes. However, several factors brought about its failure, and as a result the consequences can be seen in the race problems we still have today. In 1862, President Lincoln appointed temporary military governors to re-establish functional governments in occupied southern states. In order for a state to be allowed to re-enter the Union, it had to meet the criteria, which was established to be that at least 10 percent of the voting population polled in 1860 must denounce the Confederacy and swear allegiance to the Union again.
The Great Emancipator or a white, racist, bigot? These two viewpoints defined Abraham Lincoln throughout the course of history, but in reality, he was neither. Lincoln was a self-educated man and despite coming from poorer roots, was highly ambitious as a lawyer and leader of the Illinois Whigs. Personally, he was a very logical and honest person, skeptical of religion and ambitious. Despite this, he suffered from depression and was very superstitious. It is important to note that he was highly accepting of people, even if they were seen as the” swamp of society”; he always hated human bondage and that it strayed from the ideals of the Founders, whom he idolized, and was a means of white supremacy that mocked the Declaration of Independence.
This patient is very friendly and sociable. He was able to answer my questions without hesitation. He comes for weekly treatment of IVIG. He stated that he accepted his disease/illness and will do his best to live normal like everybody else. He stated his family especially his mother has always been there for him and see his mom sometimes tired. I was able to perform my head to toe assessment without any
Humanity presents individuals with extraordinary gifts as well as weaknesses. Growing up I realized this notion as I gave insulin shots to my younger brother and reminded him to check his blood consistently throughout the day. I was determined to fight this battle with him through researching alternative medicine options and attending his doctor’s appointments. This life experience enlightened me on my compassion for individuals with health issues and my passion for management and prevention of chronic diseases. As a nurse practitioner, my major goal is to help others like my family through properly educating patients and their families while being a source of comfort and strength in their time of distress.
The lack of communication between patient and physician is a difficulty that this group experiences. The patient may be in denial, angry, and or frustrated and may not be able to communicate their feelings to the physician. It is important that the physician and team be aware of the body language. The physician needs to take the time to listen, and ask open-ended questions so the patient can reveal what is going on with them. Being supportive, sensitive, and nice will go a long way with this
The movie “The Doctor” is a good example of how communications in the health field work to benefit not only the patient, but the doctor too. In this movie, the main character, also known as Jack McKee, is a heart surgeon. The movie begins by showing how McKee’s attitude towards his patients tends to be inappropriate. Jack jokes about his patients and laughs at their concerns. His home life is also a struggle; his relationships with his wife and son are falling apart. The movie takes a turn when Jack becomes suddenly ill. He begins coughing up blood. He meets with a specialist by the name of Lesley. Tests reveal that Jack has a serious tumor on his vocal cords. He has now become the patient. He begins treatment but the results are not what they expect. Along the way, he befriends a brain tumor patient by the name of June. She will teach Jack how to empathize. He will learn how to feel and communicate not only with his wife and son, but for his patients as well.
A patient’s treatment needs may differ widely based on stage of their illness experience. Treatment for a newly diagnosed, moderately ill patient may be very different than the treatment of an end stage, seriously ill patient. In addition, working with patients in various settings as a part of their multi-disciplinary team requires an added consideration of the approach to the staff in the setting. Each patient care setting has a culture of it’s own and requires that a clinician be mindful of how to work with the staff as well as the patient in that particular
Managing director’s report As stated by (Woolworths Limited 2017), management addressed several key issues and was pleased with the progress made in 2017. Improving team engagement and underlying business processes and culture, management nonetheless still notices many opportunities to improve the company. There were five key priorities guiding the transformation at the start of FY17, the first priority was building a customer and store-lead team and culture. There was an improvement in the customer scores for Voice of Team and Australian Food and Endeavour drinks. At the end of 2017, The Voice of Customer score was 81% and record scores in BWS and Dan Murphy’s were achieved.