I joke, but only half joke, that if you show up in an American hospital missing a finger, no one will believe you until they get a CAT scan, MRI and orthopedic consult. Abraham Verghese americancatconsult Change image and share on social
Students undergo a conversion in the third year of medical school - not pre-clinical to clinical, but pre-cynical to cynical. Abraham Verghese clinicalconversioncynical Change image and share on social
Lets take away the incentives to do 'to' patients and instead create incentives to do 'for' patients, to be 'with' patients. We don't need to do comparative effectiveness trials to see if that works; we can just ask patients. Abraham Verghese comparativecreateeffectiveness share on social
My desire to be a physician had a lot to do with that sense of medicine as a ministry of healing, not just a science. And not even just a science and an art, but also a calling, also a ministry. Abraham Verghese artcalldesire Change image and share on social
The incredible cinematography makes 'A Walk to Beautiful' almost like a poem; there is a tenderness on display that seems to emanate from the camera. There is also great sensitivity to the women whose stories are being told - never did I have a sense of the subjects being exploited. Abraham Verghese beautifulcameracinematography share on social
In writing, as in medicine, there are no short cuts. You need stamina. Abraham Verghese cutmedicineshort Change image and share on social
As a young physician in the mid-'80s, caring for people who had contracted H.I.V., I lost two of my patients to suicide at a time when the virus was doing very little harm to them. I have always thought of them as having been killed by a metaphor, by the burden of secrecy and shame associated with the disease. Abraham Verghese 80sburdencare share on social