Personal Essays

Public skepticism has cast a shadow over medicine and those who report on it. Yet for both professions, the mission continues.

A new romance appeared to improve her mother’s condition. Then the affair ended.

A medical resident reflects on her calling after a kidney transplant.

To show her love, the author learns the value of lying to her mother.

A son finds that his father’s alcoholism complicates efforts at elder care during the pandemic.

A woman finds therapeutic value in sledgehammers and broken plates.

Mental health treatment for medical practitioners will never be the same.

After 40 days in a coma, one COVID-19 patient faces what he feels is a bigger challenge—the isolation of treatment in a pandemic.

A bed-bound nurse reflects on falling sick in the time of COVID-19.

A solo traveler is bitten by a rabid dog and must navigate her care abroad.

A chronic condition gives rise to a woman’s “doctor shopping” checklist.

A man with cancer faces the logistics of dying at home.

Top Stories

Selected Reads

For decades, a tiny encampment of researchers has held that statin treatment is a hoax. In a time when contrarian views roar to life on social media, how can medicine keep minority opinions from doing irreparable harm?

Two years in deep space will subject the body to unprecedented stresses. Scientists are probing the secrets to survival.

A freak explosion tore through the quiet Nova Scotian city, prompting one of the most dramatic medical responses in history.