People : Questions

I recently saw again the patient from this post. This time around, I knew to start the conversation by asking him what questions he had for me, rather than to ask him the questions.  This time, he asked me, "If you could go back to any time period, what would it be?"  I told him I'd have to give it more thought but my instinctual response was to see what it was like during the 60's and know more of the context of the Vietnam War, which happened before my time and had such impact on my life.  He said he'd go all the way back to Adam and Eve.  When he left, he told my medical assistant that he'd have to think long and hard about what he'd ask me at his next appointment in three months. It's quirks and moments like these that remind me how much of people you get to see in medicine, and how little you really know of them.

Chicago. November 2007