As a future healthcare provider, I am learning a key concept when educating patients: be firm but kind; and it's ok to not get your point across. Many of the chronic diseases we face in healthcare require lifestyle changes and perpetual monitoring, which all hinge on our patients' vigilance. At a wellness class I teach once a month, I ...

Calamitous topics of conversation to initiate with strangers include politics, religion and body weight. I multiply that degree of calamity by 100 when the stranger is my patient. So, I carefully avoid the bits about God and Country. However, avoidance of any weight-related topic is rather negligent. Nevertheless I address diet with the ...