FEATURES

The State of the Nation's Health
By Maggie Mahar

The U.S. spends more on health care than any other nation. Does that money buy what it should? Not according to Dartmouth research on regional variations in spending and outcomes. But policymakers are now paying attention to the DMS work—and therein may lie a solution to the money-medicine puzzle.

The Other Side of the Stethoscope
By Paula Hartman Cohen

Physicians, for all their knowledge about health, sometimes fall prey to serious illness and injury—and find themselves on the receiving end of the stethoscope. Or individuals with experience as a patient sometimes decide to enter medicine—and become the person wielding the stethoscope. In either case, their patients often benefit.

Encounters with the Inexplicable
By Parker A. Towle, M.D.

A Dartmouth physician who is also a much-published poet recently had his work featured on National Public Radio's Writer's Almanac.

Dancing on Air
By John E. Castaldo, M.D.

Medical decisions are often far from clear-cut. A DMS graduate writes about an elderly patient who was rushed to the hospital after a stroke. He had to decide whether a powerful drug would save her life . . . or kill her.

COVER

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Did you know that the health care you get varies depending on where you live? And that the less care you get, the better off you may be? See the feature "The State of the Nation's Health" for more on these and other paradoxical findings from Dartmouth. The cover illustration is by Meg McLean.

DEPARTMENTS

Editor's Note

Discoveries

 A new biomarker
 When weather affects care
 A mouse made mighty
 . . .and more

Vital Signs

 Rough, tough cough
 A fairy tale come true
 National impact on CF care
 . . .and more

Letters

Point of View

By Deborah E. Schiff, M.D.

Student Notebook

By Kristen Garner

Transforming Medicine Campaign

Faculty Focus

Joseph Rosen, M.D.

Alumni Album

Patricia Dillon, M.D., M.P.H.

Grand Rounds

By John H. Wasson, M.D.

Art of Medicine

Daniel McGinley-Smith, M.D.