Johanna Shapiro, PhD, Elena Bezzubova, MD, PhD, and Ronald Koons, MD
Exposing medical students to narrative medicine by having them tell and interpret the stories of their patient encounters may help them become more empathic, more present, and more insightful physicians.
As courts continue to define the balance between a First Amendment right of free speech, the public's right to know, and protection of the private, physicians must take care to protect patient privacy in any publishing endeavor.
The American College of Physicians and the Federation of State Medical Boards’ guidelines for online medical professionalism apply existing norms of communication and confidentiality to new settings but will need to be modified in light of technological advances and unanswered questions.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(5):441-447. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.5.nlit1-1505.
Drawing Autism, a collection of drawings and paintings by people diagnosed with autism, demonstrates an array of talent and themes as well as providing insight into the artists and autism spectrum disorder.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(4):359-361. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.4.imhl1-1504.
Networking with a friend to help a patient gain employment is not unethical as long as confidentiality is maintained and the patient grants his or her doctor permission to discuss the situation with the friend.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(5):425-427. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.5.ecas2-1505.
The experience of an English professor dying of ovarian cancer in Margaret Edson’s play Wit shows that both literary and medical discourse obfuscate and objectify rather than promote communication of “simple human truths” that dignify life and death.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(9):858-864. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.9.imhl1-1509.