What We’re Reading: 11/17/23

A couple of highlights from around the web that made it into our feeds this week.

Hospitals Have Gotten Too Nice

Hospitals aren’t hotels, yet hospitality is a factor in the American healthcare experience. We all want and deserve to be as comfortable as possible while we heal, but what does that look like in the material sense? There are interesting conversations to be had as the concept of the patient shifts into that of the consumer. Hospitals across the country are creating suites with fancy amenities for those who can afford a luxurious experience. This begs the question, where do priorities lie and for whom? (From theatlantic.com)

How digital twins may enable personalized health treatment

The future is now, apparently. A digital self, with digital organs, that physicians can test treatments on prior to the real you receiving any intervention. It’s personalized medicine with the advanced help of AI and machine learning. And in specialties like cardiology, where we’re using virtual 3D models of your heart to craft treatment plans, it’s already here! (From theguardian.com)

Doctors are among the many dead in Gaza. These are their stories

In line with the closing of our last reading round-up, we end with what’s on the forefront of our collective minds. There’s nothing to preface with this one, it’s all grief, and it’s ongoing. But as Tarek Loubani, MD, a Canadian Palestinian ER doctor in Gaza, says in this article, "These men and women should be recognized for their heroism.” (From npr.org)

Lastly, a poem by Gregory Orr:

Untitled ["Grief will come to you"]

published in How Beautiful the Beloved

Grief will come to you.
Grip and cling all you want,
It makes no difference.

Catastrophe? It's just waiting to happen.
Loss? You can be certain of it.

Flow and swirl of the world.
Carried along as if by a dark current.

All you can do is keep swimming;
All you can do is keep singing.

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