Opening Shop

It’s time to start writing again.

After a two year hiatus, I’m reopening the examining room. It’s dusty in here, I apologize. Some of you might remember me, others not.

Originally I wrote about what I was experiencing during my first days as a family doctor. This helped me connect with the humanism that is so important, yet so easily lost, in the doctor-patient relationship.

I found that in writing about medicine, I was a better doctor for it. The poetry of people’s lives, their loves, ills, and struggles was more easily perceived and appreciated. In writing about the ever-improving body of medical knowledge, I stayed better informed. In writing about my life in medicine, I sustained my energies in a healing art that has existed for as long as people have felt pain and tried to help one another with it. The reflective moment, embodied in the art, analysis, and literature we create, brings light to our present endeavors.

And so begins the second iteration of The Examining Room of Dr. Charles. I’ll be focusing on the current conversations in medicine, as sparked by medical news, recent discoveries, and other voices on the web and in the media. I reserve the right to embarrass myself by posting a poem at times, or to indulge in the occasional sentimentalism that first got me noticed in the medical blogosphere.

I may not have the time to write as often, or as thoroughly as I might like, but I hope that you and I will both get something good from this blog every once in a while. And if nothing else, at least you’ll get to see the tasty tomatoes from my garden later this summer.

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31 thoughts on “Opening Shop”

  2. Maria

    Dr. Charles! So pleased to see you again. 🙂 It’s even worth scrambling around to find an available computer at work to say hello… I hope you are well.

  5. JPG

    I am so pleased to see you back, Dr. Charles. Only last week I was reflecting on defunct blogs I used to enjoy regularly — yours, the Cheerful Oncologist’s, Charity Doc’s, poor Flea’s, several others — and wishing they were still active. I have always found your writing both upbeat and thought-provoking.

  6. lizvelrene

    Dr. Charles! I’m so glad to see you writing again. I enjoyed your old blog very much.

  7. robin andrea

    Hello Dr. Charles! What a pleasant and delightful surprise. I am so glad you’ve decided to come back and blog again. I look forward to your insightful commentary on the medical side of life.

  9. chairman meow

    looking forward to photos, and graphic descriptions of the tasty tomatoes! (just don’t feed them bottled water. i hear it’s contaminated)

  10. intransigentia

    So excited to see you’re back! I participated in your tomato grow-along under a different name, then quit blogging for a while, and now I’m back too. You’re the guy who got me hooked on medblogs despite my total lack of medical background. I’m looking forward to reading you again.

  11. Dale Ann Micalizzi

    I am so pleased to see you back! Your knowledge and compassion has always inspired my work. We need you! I’ve passed your book “Legends of the Examining Room” on to several med students.

  16. WWWebb

    You wrote:

    “I found that in writing about medicine, I was a better doctor for it. The poetry of people’s lives, their loves, ills, and struggles was more easily perceived and appreciated. In writing about the ever-improving body of medical knowledge, I stayed better informed. In writing about my life in medicine, I sustained my energies in a healing art that has existed for as long as people have felt pain and tried to help one another with it. The reflective moment, embodied in the art, analysis, and literature we create, brings light to our present endeavors.”

    You’ve got it exactly right. This reminds me of the writings of a great physician and human being I had the privilege of working with, Dr. John Stone of Emory University/Grady Hospital. He touched the lives of many.

    I learned this week that he passed away last November. R.I.P.

  18. James

    Hey – welcome back! I used to read your blog quite often and had wondered what happened. I love the new look as well.

  24. CardioNP

    Welcome back! I was thinking of you just the other day when I harvested my first tomato of the season.

  28. geetha

    Welcome home Dr.Charles. I hope the Cheerful Oncologist too follows suit. Heard about your arrival through Pharyngula.

  29. Ron

    Great to have you blogging again! I always looked forward to reading about your experiences as a primary care doctor. Welcome back!

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