Table of Contents
A Magazine for Alumni and Friends of Dartmouth Medical School and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
Vol. 32, No. 1 Fall 2007
FEATURES
Care Package
By Deborah Lee Luskin
Medicine is, at its core, the provision of care to patients. But in this country there's a lot of financial and regulatory baggage that goes along with providing care. Here is how one DMS alumnus—with more than a little help from his wife—handled that baggage.
Making Choice an Option
By Maggie Mahar
Are patients who sign informed-consent paperwork really informed about the treatment they're about to undergo? Of course not. The fine print on such forms is for lawyers, not sick people. But should patients understand the risks and tradeoffs of treatment options they face? Of course. Dartmouth has been leading the way, not just asking for informed consent, but giving patients informed choice.
Being Present
By Robert Rufsvold, M.D.
Sometimes the suffering in the developing world seems too intractable, too overwhelming, to dispel it, even a small part of it. But far away from home—about as far as he could get, in the Afar region of Ethiopia—one DMS alumnus concludes that just being present, fully present, may be enough.
COVER
There's a lot of paperwork that goes on behind the scenes within health care today. See the feature "Care Package" to read about the impact that has had on one DMS alumnus. The cover photograph was taken by Max Aguilera-Hellweg and colorized by Jennifer Durgin.
DEPARTMENTS
Good news for bad backs
Putting folate to the acid test
. . .and more
Celebrating community
The money-medicine mess
Pharm-freebie-free team
. . .and more
Transforming Medicine Campaign
Gregory Holmes, M.D.
Edward Harris, Jr., M.D., '60
If you'd like to offer feedback about Dartmouth Medicine, we'd welcome getting your comments at DartMed@Dartmouth.edu.
Fall 2007