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Updated: Jun 4, 2026

Using Visual and Narrative Methods to Achieve Fair Process in Clinical Care
Published on: February 16, 2011
The patient in poetry: an exercise in clinical problem solving
Abstract:
Meeting a patient for the first time, a physician must sort through an often complex, jumbled array of information. This process can be replicated in reading: literature abounds with medical examples which, when analyzed, reveal similar diagnostic challenges to those faced in practice. This article examines the poem "To An Old Jaundiced Woman" by Dr. William Carlos Williams. The conclusions of fourth year Dalhousie medical students are presented, together with the viewpoint of a practicing family physician. Readers are invited to compare their responses.
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