He was a young man, and I could see fear in his eyes as he gripped the railings of the bed and struggled to breathe, sucking in heavily through the plastic mask feeding him oxygen. His body was wasting away from cancer, and the infections that had crept into his lungs were now forcing every compensatory mechanism into extremis. He wanted to fight and live, but there was little left for the ICU to offer. I had been pleading with him for days to consider hospice and a more peaceable passing at home where he could be … [Read more...] about Death and Resurrection
medicine
Hands and Feet
[This was originally written for a Christian campus publication, Revisions.] The patient came in for a refill of pain medications even though it was his first visit to the family medicine practice. The front desk staff had a letter for the supervising resident from the patient's previous doctor, which the resident read out loud to me: “Due to difficulties in our doctor-patient relationship, we regret to inform you that we can no longer serve as your primary care physician office.” The resident's eyes widened … [Read more...] about Hands and Feet
“Science and medicine must be separate from religion”
Thank-you to the friend of ESN who in response to my FB Wall post on George Washington U. Professor Tapped to Lead Tropical-Medicine School - On Hiring - The Chronicle of Higher Education (Audrey Williams June. 6/23/2011), reminded me Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is not affiliated w/Baylor University (BU). As I hopped on-line, the controversy regarding the relationship between Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and Baylor University (BU) slowly came back to me. It is another difficult institutional history marked … [Read more...] about “Science and medicine must be separate from religion”
American Scientific Affiliation Posts 2010 Annual Meeting Audios
The American Scientific Affiliation (ASA) has just begun to post audio podcasts of the talks from their 65th Annual Meeting: Science, Faith, and Public Policy (Catholic University in America, Washington, D.C.). I'd encourage you to check out their library. Three presentations which I found of particular value and commend to you are ... Experiences of a Scientist-Christian in the Washington Fishbowl An Introduction to a Systematic Theology of Medicine Seeking Other Earths: Exoplanets and the Significance … [Read more...] about American Scientific Affiliation Posts 2010 Annual Meeting Audios
Week in Review: Show Me the Money
What are you reading, watching, thinking about this week? As usual, here's a few which have been on our mind. Let us know your thoughts on any/all of them. If you have items you'd like us to consider for the top five, add them in the comments or send them to Tom or Mike. 1. Who pays for higher education, in the U.S. and around the world? Scott Jaschik interviews (by email) the authors of Financing Higher Education Worldwide (D. Bruce Johnstone & Pamela N. Marcucci. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010) in … [Read more...] about Week in Review: Show Me the Money