Scope is an award-winning medical blog produced by a team of writers at Stanford University School of Medicine.
On Saturday, Stanford Medicine’s graduating class will walk away from campus with a new title: Doctor. The day of celebration begins with a commencement brunch for graduates and guests, with the diploma ceremony following at 1 p.m. Augustus White III, MD, PhD, the first African-American to graduate from Stanford’s medical school, will be this year’s speaker. A professor at Harvard …Read More
When Oranicha (Natty) Jumreornvong decided to leave her home in Thailand to attend Stanford University, her family was uneasy about her decision. Jumreornvong explained in a Stanford News story: They were concerned that the academic challenges of Stanford and cultural differences between Thailand and the U.S. would be too much for a daughter. Looking back, …Read More
Our nation is struggling with an unprecedented opioid epidemic, which is pushing researchers to better understand how people experience of pain and how this impacts pain treatments. A key factor may be something called pain catastrophizing — heightened negative thoughts and emotions in response to actual or anticipated pain. New research recently published in Anesthesiology shows that pain …Read More
Tom Roberts on
While discussing my experiences in medical school at a recent dinner, one of my professors asked me, “Did you learn more from textbooks or patients?” The answer was obvious: patients. Over the course of medical school, I spent two years working in classrooms, libraries, and labs to memorize details of medical conditions and treatments and …Read More
Know what matters in life and do those things well. That sounds like good advice, but all too often what matters in life feels a lot like everything, and you can’t do everything perfectly. You can’t be a star at your job and have time for your loved ones, remember every important birthday, keep the house tidy, exercise …Read More
Becky Bach on
I didn’t know I was interested in history of health insurance before I read the excerpt from An American Sickness that appears in the latest issue of Stanford Medicine magazine. As a topic, it struck me as rather dull and business-y — certainly nothing that would displace a murder mystery or a Thailand travel saga on …Read More
Tracie White on
In the ongoing hunt to find better treatments for heart disease, the top cause of death globally, new research from Stanford shows promising results using an unusual strategy: photosynthetic bacteria and light. Researchers found that by injecting a type of bacteria into the hearts of anesthestized rats with cardiac disease, then using light to trigger …Read More
As our elected officials consider to weigh the future of our nation’s health care, I thought I would take the opportunity to share a few vignettes of patients that I’ve encountered this year who exemplify the way that access to health care can make the difference between life and death. The undocumented immigrant with seizures …Read More
Stanford medical students must master genetics, biochemistry and immunology, among other disciplines. But school leaders don’t want these future doctors to be stumped when their patients describe their acupuncture sessions, or have questions about herbal supplements or other alternative therapies. To help familiarize Stanford medical students with these practices, the students spend a day shadowing a …Read More
Becky Bach on
The choice, it seems, is obvious: Would you rather try “slow-roasted caramelized zucchini bites” or some “lighter-choice zucchini?” Or, what about “zesty ginger-turmeric sweet potatoes” versus “cholesterol-free sweet potatoes?” A new Stanford study, which appears this week in JAMA Internal Medicine, confirmed that labels given to vegetables can encourage, or discourage, diners from selecting them. A press …Read More
