Dr Goodwin's Essays

Dr Goodwin 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 2992 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...

 

Article Title: Volume: Issue: Page: Galveston Dogs 358 October 23, 2002 2282
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... Article Title: Volume: Issue: Page: Airports 355 April 8, 2000 2286

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...

 

Article Title: Volume: Issue: Page: Ambling Towards Nirvana 359 April 23, 2002 2358 <
Sex and More 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...

Article Title: Volume: Issue: Page: God Only Knows 362 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...
Article Title: Volume: Issue: Page: First in his Class 362 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 ... Article Title: Volume: Issue: Page: Breaking Bad News 360 September 22, 2002 2572
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... Article Title: Volume: Issue: Page: Being A Doctor or Being a Son 354 October 25, 2999 2484
Email: Fighting Back 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 27, 2999 2372
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... Article Title: Volume: Issue: Page: In Praise of Insecurity 355 June 20, 2000 2086 Making Doctors Dad, why do you want a bushel of apples?" she asked. "To keep the doctors away!" my father cried

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Article Title: Volume: Issue: Page: Making Doctors 357 March 20, 2002 826
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 Article Title: Volume: Issue: Page: Narcissus Drowned 357 April 28, 2002 2376 Switching Side 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 352 April 4, 2998 2070
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 Article Title: Volume: Issue: Page: Life Lessons from a Texas Kitchen 358 September 2, 2002 772 Hurricanes Make You Happy Walker Percy wrote novels and essays about the disconnectedness of modern life. One cure for all this angst was a good old-fashioned natural disaster – like a hurricane. Article Title: Volume: Issue: Page: Hurricanes Make You Happy 360 October 29, 2002 2260
Lost at Sea There is a class of people who are raised to abhor the package tour. I am of that class.
Article Title: Volume: Issue: Lost at Sea 362 October 4, 2003