The Skinny: Top 5 Reads This Week
Have the past two weeks flown by for anyone else? I don't know where all the time has gone, but the end of January and beginning of February completely crept past me. This past week has been relatively calm, aside from a 4-hour salsa practice on Wednesday night that left me drained for Thursday and Friday. This weekend involved more planning for Greece, my mom's brunch reception, and my last remaining interview! One habit that I've been trying really hard to make stick for 2016: reading a few articles every day that cover anything and everything. Below are some of my favorites from the past week!
The Golden State Warriors' Beautiful Game As a basketball-lover and San Francisco native, I've had so much fun watching the Warriors grow and develop their game. This article goes into a lot of depth, sizing the Warriors up with recent and upcoming opponents in their line-up. The piece describes the key to their successful in such a poignant way that you almost forget how analytical their strategies and tactics must be.
Three Problems That Doomed Syria Peace Talks The author isn't afraid to go deep - deep into the history of conflict in the Middle East, deep into the issue of proxy wars in this already turbulent region, and deep into America's involvement in the tumultuous conflict. The article as a whole provided an honest and thorough analysis of why the peace talks were both doomed to fail and necessary for moving the conflict forward towards resolution.
How Google Passed Apple Google's parent company (Alphabet) recently surpassed Apple in market value (for a brief moment). This article delves into why Alphabet, in the long run, is of higher value to Wall Street than the big fruit. The author specifically suggests that Alphabet's more diverse investment portfolio coudl indicate more room for growth and development whereas the current market for Apple products is fairly saturated.
The Bouvier Affair A wonderful read on how the president of an art storage facility made a hugely lucrative foray into private art dealing. I was completely fascinated and entranced while reading this article - it almost reads like fiction!
Drug Shortages Forcing Hard Decisions on Rationing Treatments An article about making the right decision when there doesn't seem to be a "right" decision to make. I'm surprised that I haven't thought about this issue more (just goes to show you how naive a student can be), but it makes complete sense that certain drugs (particularly ones for rare diseases that aren't lucrative for pharmaceutical companies to produce) are at risk of running out completely. I was happy to see that certain health systems have pharmacies that can make similarly formulated drugs on the spot, but worry about how there is little standardization or guidance in terms of how teams of healthcare professionals come to make these very challenging calls. Overall, it's a gripping read that really makes you think about rationing healthcare.
As I'm preparing for my last interview, I've been thinking a lot about what I, as a patient, would value in a healthcare provider. I want someone that I can trust, someone that I can relate to, and someone that can make me feel at ease (especially when something as important as my health is troubling me). Even if on the most basic level, I would want my physician to feel comfortable having a normal conversation with me about anything and everything. This open line of communication is so important in building trust and compassion in the physician-patient relationship. How does one develop an more secular awareness? How does one become well-versed in enough topics to be able to converse freely and comfortably with someone who has completely different interests? The best answer I could come up with: become a student of the world - no story, no phenomenon, no place, no idea is too small or too insignificant to explore!
