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The Dark Bridal Canopy

Department of Family Medicine, Brown Medical School, Providence, RI

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Jeffrey Borkan, MD, PhD, Department of Family Medicine (Brown), Memorial Hospital of RI, 111 Brewster St, Pawtucket, RI 02860, Jeffrey_Borkan{at}Brown.edu

ABSTRACT

Physician narratives in family medicine have the potential to convey the vibrant spirit of our field and provide meaningful insights into disease, illness, suffering, and the nature of healing. They may also complement empirical research, education, and practice through their integrative, expressive nature. This true story depicts a challenge faced by the author while serving as a family physician in a desolate, desert region in Israel’s southern Aravah Valley (south of the Dead Sea), where he was privileged to practice for a decade. The episode, a fatal car crash in which a newlywed Druse woman (a member of a secretive sect) was killed, involved much more than just the terse details listed in the emergency log. An example of a family medicine physician-and-self drama, this piece takes the reader beyond the basic medical facts into the experience and sensations of the event. It also provides a stark contrast to the usual medical description and emphasizes the importance of stories as reflective opportunities for improving health care, sustaining ourselves as practitioners, and maintaining the vitality of our field.

Key Words: Family practice • communication • narrative medicine • mindfulness • emergency medicine • delivery of health care

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