AMA Journal of Ethics^®

Until the twentieth century, there was no specialized medical care pertaining to aging.

The symbol of the Hanged Man in the traditional tarot deck is relevant to the medical student's transformation into a doctor.

The reluctance of medicine to shift from treatment to palliation has existed since at least the 1700s and remains stubborn today.

Fred Friedman's experiences with mental illness treatment and homelessness.

The responsibilities of motherhood have changed in the era of longer life expectancies. Women are often simultaneously caregivers for their children, grandchildren, and parents.

Faced with the bureaucratic and ethical challenges of contemporary medicine, some doctors second-guess their career choices.

Distinctions in garb worn by health care professionals have their drawbacks, to the degree that reinforcing the differences between team members can reinforce rigid role divisions and hierarchical inequities that undermine teamwork.

In the iconic painting Broken Column, Kahlo represents her spine as a Greek column that is fractured and disintegrating. In this beautiful and tragic interpretation, the fractured column bespeaks Kahlo’s physical weakness and emotional instability.

The biomedical definition of pain is inadequate to encompass the experiences of patients living with chronic pain.

Because the biomedical model of disease has been the prevailing one in our lifetimes, it may appear to be a new concept. But medical thinkers from Hippocrates to George Engel have been considering the interaction between disease processes and the patient's circumstances for a long time.