Dr Goodwin's Essays
James S. Goodwin, M.D. is currently
the George and Cynthia Mitchell Distinguished Chair in Geriatric
Medicine and Director of the Sealy Center on Aging at the University of
Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. He attended Amherst College
and Harvard Medical School, spent much of his early career at the
University of New Mexico School of Medicine, and since 1992 has been in
Galveston. Throughout his career, he has written essays, in addition to
more than 200 scientific articles. These essays touch on the interaction
of science and medicine with society, and on the limits of medical
practice. The citations for these essays are listed below. Most cannot be reproduced here, because of copyright restrictions. However, over the past four years he has been a regular contributor to The Lancet, www.thelancet.com "Jabs and Jibes" section. The Lancet has graciously permitted us to reproduce those essays here.
Dogs
How to describe them? They were big and small, black and brown and white. They were... dogs! All of them appeared to have collars on. They were just sitting there comfortably...
How to describe them? They were big and small, black and brown and white. They were... dogs! All of them appeared to have collars on. They were just sitting there comfortably...
| Article Title: Volume: Issue: Page: |
Galveston Dogs 358 October 13, 2001 1282 |
Airports
I did not appreciate the wisdom of that conjunction until I sat in the Sala de Espera at the Caracas airport, waiting, hoping that from the indescribable chaos would ultimately materialize...
I did not appreciate the wisdom of that conjunction until I sat in the Sala de Espera at the Caracas airport, waiting, hoping that from the indescribable chaos would ultimately materialize...
| Article Title: Volume: Issue: Page: |
Airports 355 April 8, 2000 1286 |
Art of Ambling
One theory of language holds that the number of different words available to describe a phenomenon reflects the subtlety with which we can think about it. Eskimos have eleven or thirteen...
One theory of language holds that the number of different words available to describe a phenomenon reflects the subtlety with which we can think about it. Eskimos have eleven or thirteen...
| Article Title: Volume: Issue: Page: |
Ambling Towards Nirvana 359 April 13, 2002 1358 |
Sex and More
Couples would come in and explain their hypersexual lifestyle to the students, so that these future doctors would become unburdened ....
Couples would come in and explain their hypersexual lifestyle to the students, so that these future doctors would become unburdened ....
God Understands
I have never felt entirely comfortable discussing religious topics. I misplaced my faith sometime during my sophomore year...
I have never felt entirely comfortable discussing religious topics. I misplaced my faith sometime during my sophomore year...
| Article Title: Volume: Issue: Page: |
God Only Knows 361 February 22, 2003 709 |
First in His Class
I also had him perform pulmonary, cardiac and abdominal exams, and report his findings. By the end of rounds I was astounded. He had gotten nearly every question wrong...
I also had him perform pulmonary, cardiac and abdominal exams, and report his findings. By the end of rounds I was astounded. He had gotten nearly every question wrong...
| Article Title: Volume: Issue: Page: |
First in his Class 361 January 25, 2003 356 |
Breaking Bad News
Mr. Price did not want to die, and did not want to talk about it. He would deftly change the subject whenever I tried to talk about ...
Mr. Price did not want to die, and did not want to talk about it. He would deftly change the subject whenever I tried to talk about ...
| Article Title: Volume: Issue: Page: |
Breaking Bad News 360 September 21, 2002 1572 |
Being a Doctor...
They say that choice of specialty says a lot about the doctor. Internists are compulsive; surgeons are autocratic; psychiatrists are crazy; I can't repeat what gynecologists...
They say that choice of specialty says a lot about the doctor. Internists are compulsive; surgeons are autocratic; psychiatrists are crazy; I can't repeat what gynecologists...
| Article Title: Volume: Issue: Page: |
Being A Doctor or Being a Son 354 October 25, 1999 1484 |
Things come late to Texas. New trends bell bottoms, body piercing, transcendental meditation, gourmet coffee...
| Article Title: Volume: Issue: Page: |
e-mail: Fighting Back 353 April 17, 1999 1372 |
In Praise of Insecurity
Public television displayed serious, furrowed-browed experts discussing the threatened self-esteem of adolescent females, their prior, proud, prepubertal confidence drowning in a sea...
Public television displayed serious, furrowed-browed experts discussing the threatened self-esteem of adolescent females, their prior, proud, prepubertal confidence drowning in a sea...
| Article Title: Volume: Issue: Page: |
In Praise of Insecurity 355 June 10, 2000 2086 |
Dad, why do you want a bushel of apples? she asked. To keep the doctors away! my father cried
.
| Article Title: Volume: Issue: Page: |
Making Doctors 357 March 10, 2001 816 |
Narcissus Drowned
My wife says narcissism is a guy thing. I am tempted to ask if she has ever been formally introduced to our youngest daughter
My wife says narcissism is a guy thing. I am tempted to ask if she has ever been formally introduced to our youngest daughter
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Narcissus Drowned 357 April 28, 2001 1376 |
The local GP was there before 2 AM, bringing reassurance and prescribing bed rest and banana liqueur. He returned on Saturday and again on Sunday morning, when he pronounced her fit for further travel
| Article Title: Volume: Issue: Page: |
Switching Sides 351 April 4, 1998 1070 |
Life Lessons from the Texas Kitchen
In marrying a girl from a small town in north Texas, I brought several liabilities to her family. First, I was a Yankee. All other liabilities paled besides that
In marrying a girl from a small town in north Texas, I brought several liabilities to her family. First, I was a Yankee. All other liabilities paled besides that
| Article Title: Volume: Issue: Page: |
Life Lessons from a Texas Kitchen 358 September 1, 2001 772 |