Revisiting the Longest Night

Editor’s Note: This blog post complements a collection of articles in our March issue that explores physicians’ and trainees’ understanding of how social structures and structural competency influence health. Check back throughout the month for additional perspectives on this topic.
By: Ken Martin
Mr. Martin is a onetime crisis intervention counselor turned entrepreneur with a passion for family, culture, and community. He is also a writer and photographer for Street Sense; his work can be found here.
May 11, 2014. Mother’s Day.
The doctors said I had a heart attack. I had surgery that Monday to repair a ruptured main artery and to have a stent inserted. I rested in the hospital on Tuesday. On Wednesday, following consults with an administrator who announced, “Mr. Martin, you didn’t have a heart attack, you had a cardiac episode,” and a hospital caseworker who concluded that the nation’s capital had no recuperation facilities for me, I was released.
Living on the street, with no place to rest, I sat in front of a nearby Starbucks and experienced great discomfort that I first attributed to anxiety. Thursday morning, I returned to the ER in pain, disillusioned and afraid. The hospital staff again said, “Heart attack!”
After a barrage of tests, they asked me to sign a document releasing them so they could find the problem. I signed. I went back to the operating table Friday morning. They performed surgery but still no findings. Instead, I got anot...

Source: Academic Medicine Blog - March 7, 2017 Category: Universities & Medical Training Authors: Guest Author Tags: Featured Guest Perspective bedside manner empathy patient care patient perspective social determinants of health structural competency Source Type: blogs