by Dr. Bob Baker, MD | Mar 21, 2018 | Storybank
You might – just might – have patients who don’t take your advice and return with same problem again and again. For such patients, like inveterate smokers with recurrent upper respiratory infections or refluxers who just have to have that bowl of ice cream...
by Dr. Bob Baker, MD | Mar 21, 2018 | Storybank
One of the most distressing things for a family is when a patient, usually elderly, suddenly gets worse and seems to be heading for a cliff. When I was a medical student at Columbia, we admitted a ninety-seven-year-old history professor with a broken hip. At his age,...
by Dr. Bob Baker, MD | Mar 21, 2018 | Storybank
Patients recovering from surgery or an illness sometimes perceive they’re having setbacks or days when they don’t seem to be improving. Once I’ve determined that no untoward medical event has occurred, I explain progress this way: The course of recovery from anything...
by Dr. Bob Baker, MD | Mar 21, 2018 | Blog
Humbled, inspired, and hopeful. In that order. That’s how I felt after attending my first TEDMED conference. It’s a TED conference centered around medicine, public health, medical science innovation, with remarkable stories of human perseverance, resilience, and...
by Dr. Bob Baker, MD | Mar 21, 2018 | Blog
We all know what, in 1888, Rudyard Kipling pronounced to be the world’s oldest profession. But what’s the world’s second oldest? Hunter-gatherer? Nah, everybody did that. Primitive politician? That’s a tautology. Neolithic attorney? Nope. Too similar to the oldest. I...
