House Calls with Dr. Murthy | 6.12.2024 | Dr. Verghese P.1: When There Is No Cure, How Can We Heal?

For doctors who spend years training to make their patients better, what happens when there is no cure?

This is how Dr. Abraham Verghese came of age as a physician.

At the height of the AIDS epidemic, he treated a rural population of dying young men, men his own age, who had no future and were often shunned by other doctors. Working with his AIDS patients, Dr. Verghese learned that treating the spirit can bring patients and their families an invaluable part of what they need when facing the incurable. As Dr. Verghese became renowned both as a doctor and a writer, he carried forward his rituals of personal focus on the patient and their families to keep humanity central to his medical practice.

(02:28) Dr. Murthy and Dr. Verghese recount their first meeting
(06:14) How did Abraham learn the difference between curing and healing?
(09:10) What did Abraham come to understand about doctors while caring for AIDS patients in the 1980s?
(13:08) How Dr. Murthy got his start in public health during the AIDS epidemic
(17:22) How can we build a more humanistic approach back into medicine?
(21:20) Do patients feel invisible these days?
(24:21) With the proliferation of electronic medical records, how can medical students learn to connect with patients?
(29:24) How Dr. Murthy learned the importance of the physical exam with patients.
(36:11) When Dr. Verghese sees patients, what are some of the rituals he practices?
(41:12) Was medicine always Dr. Verghese’s calling?

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