Introduction Clinical acumen, patience, and a sense of humor characterize physicians who find the care of older adults interesting and rewarding. As physicians, when we age, we ultimately come to discover that we can't fix everything. For those of us who derive satisfaction from caring for the elderly, separating what is clinically possible from what is impossible soon becomes a reflex. We discover that most older patients are interested in quality of life and not quantity of life. Since Hippocrates, if not even before, physicians have enjoyed sharing their knowledge and experience with colleagues by recalling interesting cases.
Physicians enjoy clinical drama, particularly the unusual and the unexpected.
Good physicians are invariably good storytellers. Two of the best storytellers were W. Somerset Maugham and Anton Chekhov. Both were physicians. This series will present clinical information as case studies. These are actual cases, or composites, sufficiently altered to serve confidentiality.