Society for Participatory MedicinePerspective
Narratives, Perspective, Vol. 7, 2015
An e-Patient Awakening: Endometriosis
Dave deBronkart and Anonymous | July 1, 2015
An anonymous e-patient candidly shares lessons learned after endometriosis surgery.
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Caseous Swiss Medicine
Joseph P. Allencherril | June 5, 2015
A medical student recounts a tense situation that occured in an inpatient setting because of the many “holes” in the “Swiss cheese” system.
Read MoreNarratives, Vol. 6, 2014
But You Said I Wouldn’t Need Radiation
Stephanie Roberson Barnard | February 28, 2014
Which physician would you rather have as a patient? Here a breast cancer survivor analyzes the communication styles of two of her doctors — the first left her anxious and bereft, while the second helped her feel informed and hopeful.
Read MoreNarratives, Vol. 5, 2013
Going Digital with Patients: Managing Potential Liability Risks of Patient-Generated Electronic Health Information
Deven McGraw, Robert Belfort, Helen Pfister and Susan Ingargiola | December 18, 2013
Some physicians are understandably reluctant to receive digital data from patients due to professional liability concerns, yet this means missing patient-generated health data that could be crucial to improving health care outcomes. The authors show some solutions to this dilemma in the form of specific steps physicians can take to mitigate their liability risk.
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“What Brings You In Today?” Assessing and Addressing Potential Cross-Cultural Communication Gaps
Navya S. Nambudiri and Vinod Easwaran Nambudiri | August 28, 2013
Doctors who start clinical visits with open-ended questions — encouraging patients to express their health concerns in their own way — are on their way to achieving successful patient-centered communication. But when there is a language and/or culture gap between doctor and patient, communication may suffer — hindering patient engagement and making patients feel their care is suboptimal. What can be done to address communication gaps or cross-cultural language gaps?
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A Mother’s Journey to Diagnose Her Daughter’s Rare Disease
Wendy White | July 24, 2013
Many patients with rare disorders are not diagnosed by doctors, nurses, or researchers, but by a fierce and driven group of detective known as mothers. I know because I am one.
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Integrative Medicine’s Pragmatic Mission
David Rakel | June 26, 2013
Integrative medicine is not about simply studying therapeutic tools that are not traditionally used. It is about understanding how to use the most appropriate tools effectively to enhance health and healing.
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Steel Standing: Metal Meets Muscle; A Patient’s Perspective
Christa Carmell Davis | June 5, 2013
A family caregiver tells how she helped solve the mystery of her mother’s debilitating condition by persistently seeking out published studies and, on the fourth try, finding a surgeon who would listen to the patient and her advocate.
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e-Patients in Twitter Hashtag Communities
Mark Harmel and Kelly Young | May 29, 2013
There’s promising evidence that Twitter hashtag communities are a force for improvement in medicine — a force largely driven by patients.
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Metastatic Breast Cancer: Lessons Learned from My Missed Diagnosis
Karen Holliman | April 10, 2013
A woman with terminal metastatic breast cancer shares her story, a cautionary tale about medical mistakes, basic communication failures of clinicians, and her naive faith in a “world class academic health system.”
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Evolving from Patient Zero to Dr. House
Mark Harmel | January 16, 2013
I was a “patient zero” — not as the term is used in infectious disease outbreaks — but as in describing my level of knowledge entering a mini-med school class where I had to navigate the maze of medical websites to find information that I could understand and trust.
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Me, Myself, & the MRI
Sarah Richards | January 9, 2013
The author, using a pseudonym, shares the story of her nerve-wracking cancer screening experience that turned hopeful thanks to a participatory radiologist.
Read MoreNarratives, Vol. 4, 2012
One Clinician’s Awakening
Karen MacDonald | October 24, 2012
I am a nurse. I am a patient. I was sure about which role made me strong and which one made me weak. Which was helpful to others and which was a burden. Then an email arrived in my inbox that would turn all those beliefs upside down.
Read MoreNarratives, Vol. 4, 2012
Listen, Dream, and Change: Using the Power of Patients to Improve Care
Jan A.M. Kremer | October 17, 2012
We need to make our care more patient-centered. The author illustrates with some examples from his daily practice that we should use the power of patients to achieve the necessary changes. Listening and dreaming appear to be important catalysts.
Read MoreNarratives, Vol. 4, 2012
Using Self-Coaching to Improve Life with Fibromyalgia
Tracy Hide | September 24, 2012
The author discusses her use of psychological self-coaching techniques to maintain optimum health and functioning while living with fibromyalgia syndrome.
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Can We Just Choose to Live?
Erika Hanson Brown | July 25, 2012
The author describes how, for herself and other cancer survivors, “choosing to live” provides a pathway to survival, and supporting fellow patients/survivors enhances their own wellbeing.
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An Introduction to Self-Care
Sana Johnson-Quijada | March 16, 2012
After a very positive family experience with collaborative care, the author was emboldened to modify her communication with her psychiatric patients in ways that enable them to engage more effectively in their care.
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A Resident’s View: Eliminating Skin Cancer — Choose Your Own Adventure
Vinod Easwaran Nambudiri | February 29, 2012
Engaging in discussions about the management of benign and complex skin lesions with my patients has taught me more than any reading from the dozens of textbooks or hundreds of articles that laid the foundation for my medical education.
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Present, Patient, and Accounted For: How and Why Patients Are Present at Scientific Meetings of the American College of Rheumatology
Kelly Young | February 24, 2012
The author describes how an organization for e-patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) evolved to win recognition within the scientific community as an authority on RA patient needs and patient care.
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Waiting Room Remedy: Doctor Pays for Delays (The Doctor’s Perspective)
Pamela L. Wible | January 11, 2012
The author, a physician, tackles the problem of long wait times at doctors’ offices, offering a solution that shows respect for patients while urging both parties to take responsibility.
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