that the average patient coming in to a family practice office didn't suffer from the exotic diseases that I was prepared to pounce upon triumphantly, but seemed to have incomprehensible complaints. It was a great relief when all someone wanted was a prescription refill. Somehow I managed to get through the week, however, with subtle prodding from the office nurse.

My one masterstroke, I had thought, was making a house call on a small child with pharyngeal exudates whom I treated for tonsillitis. When I later related the incident to Dinny, he said, "Interesting. I didn't think one saw tonsillitis under the age of five," or some such age, thus bursting my bubble.

Sitting behind my own desk a few months later, and remembering my locum experience, I wondered if I was really prepared for practice. But the one principle I took away with me from Canaan was that if you really listened carefully enough to patients, you could ferret out what it was that had brought them in and make them grateful so that they might think you knew what you were doing.

Jerome Nolan, M.D.
DHMC Housestaff '52-54
Wilmington, N.C.

A solon's story
I write to commend one of Dartmouth's extraordinary medical students, Lisa Merry. I had the occasion to meet her in September, when I managed to wreck my motorbike on the edge of Route 12A. I was pretty shaken up after flying through the air and landing on my helmet.

Lisa appeared very shortly after the accident, announced that she was a second-year medical student, and asked if I was okay or in need of any assistance. I thanked her and asked her for help with my injuries.

It's not that she bandaged me up very efficiently, which she did, or that she offered to take me to the emergency room after I decided I didn't need ambulance transport. What most impressed me was the determination she made that she was going to look after me until I was home

Be sure to tell us when you move! If your address changes and you want to keep getting Dartmouth Medicine, just tear off the address panel from the back of a recent issue, write your new address next to the old one, and mail it to: Dartmouth Medicine, 1 Medical Center Drive (HB 7070), Lebanon, NH 03756. It helps us greatly— since our mailing list is drawn from six separate databases—if you send the actual cover or a copy of it. If that's not possible, please include both your old and new addresses. Note, too, that if you receive more than one copy of the magazine, it's because of those six databases (which are in different formats, so they can't be automatically "de-duped"). We're happy to eliminate duplications, but it's a help to have the address panel on all the copies you get, not just the one(s) you'd like deleted.

and okay. She stayed with me at the DHMC emergency room, where I was wonderfully treated, and then took me back to Cornish. She took care of me.

I realize how rare it is to find that kind of commitment offered by one stranger to another on the side of the road. Lisa gave me her help freely and with great kindness. I am happy to share how moved I was by what she did. I sometimes wonder if we as a culture maintain a group of core values that are worthy. I don't have an answer yet to the large question, but I know that Lisa Merry has those values.

I extend my thanks to Dartmouth Medical School for having such a wonderful student close at hand.

Senator Peter Hoe Burling
Cornish, N.H.

Burling represents District 5 in the New Hampshire State Senate.

It's all in the IT
I read with interest Kelley Meck's article "Who would import RICE to Vietnam," in your Summer issue. I was intrigued because of the article's title and because I am Vietnamese. I live in Dallas now, and importing rice to Vietnamwould be like importing heat to Texas.

I believe that RICE [which stands for "remote interaction, consultation, and epidemiology"—a Dartmouth-based effort to link rural clinics with urban hospitals in Vietnam using smartphone technology] will produce beneficial results for the people of Vietnam. Furthermore, I do believe that information technology is a constructive way to facilitate the health care there.

I am really interested in the progress of this project.

Hue Dao
Dallas, Tex.

We've got you covered
My husband and I get your magazine in the mail and enjoy reading it, cover to cover, each time. I wonder if you can add my mother, who lives in California, to your list of subscribers? (She isn't computer savvy, so reading it on the internet isn't possible.) She is 84 years old and dealing with some medical issues. I sent her a copy of "Making Choice an Option," from your Fall issue, and she found it very interesting.

Thank you for publishing such a relevant and informative magazine!

Karen Norris
Augusta, Maine

Something for everyone
I have been reading Dartmouth Medicine for many years and enjoy it very much. I check it out from my local library. There are always many interesting and informative articles—something for everyone, scientists and laypeople alike.

Would you add my son's name to your mailing list? He is on the faculty at a pharmacy college in Virginia and will appreciate the magazine even more than I do.

Patricia Lee
Temple, N.H.