To Empty A Wheelchair

Throughout my medical training, I vow to make an effort to actively pursue each patient’s full story. To cleave only the fragments of their existence that anchor them to the hospital room leaves behind parts of our patients, invisible and abandoned. Madeline Blatt reflects on the importance of imagining and investigating the version of the patient who lives outside of the hospital after being discharged. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the July 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

Om Podcasten

Meet medical students and residents, clinicians and educators, health care thought leaders and researchers in this podcast from the journal Academic Medicine. Episodes chronicle the stories of these individuals as they experience the science and the art of medicine. Guests delve deeper into the issues shaping medical schools and teaching hospitals today. Subscribe to this podcast and listen as the conversation continues. The journal Academic Medicine serves as an international forum to advance knowledge about the principles, policy, and practice of research, education, and patient care in academic settings. Please note that the opinions expressed in this podcast are the guests’ alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the AAMC or its members.