The first time I went to a specialist,
he had me—naked from the top up,
sheeted from the breasts down—
lie on the examining table,
where he felt hand to skin
every organ in my body. He was
from the “old school” of medicine,
more efficient than robotic,
less impressed with technology
than he was with patient cases,
but the hospital replaced him
after he turned eighty.
So when you tell me how
your new, young gastroenterologist
didn’t even have you undress
but simply discussed your condition,
chronic stomach ailments, I wonder
if she failed you, all those possible
parts of you crying out for attention,
to be felt, to be understood
by someone whose tactile sense
was trained by tradition, not by
a current practice in medicine
that eliminates touch.
Footnotes
Editor’s Note:The author writes, “Many years ago, I was being treated by a Mayo Clinic cardiologist from the “old school” who literally took the time to feel every organ in my body when considering a diagnosis. As he proceeded, he would explain to me how each organ might be related to the particular ailment. Recently, more and more friends and relatives report that their doctors, particularly specialists, simply talk to them about their respective symptoms—without ever feeling the troubled areas of their bodies.” Yvette A. Schnoeker-Shorb has been an educator, a researcher, and an editor, and is co-founder of a 501(c)(3) nonprofit natural history press.