The patient in poetry: an exercise in clinical problem solving

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.