Parents and physicians can seem god-like. But they're human, just like we are. What happens when the raw emotions of such trusted figures bleed into their responsibilities? We'll find out on Think, with memoirist/dad Drew Magary at noon and writer/physician Danielle Ofri at 1 p.m.
Take this colorful (read: NSFW!) excerpt of Magary's As he learns there's absolutely nothing he can do to stop his daughter's incessant begging for candy, Magary resorts to spanking - with some admitted shame. Not even then does he gain the control he so desperately wants in this moment of chaos. She laughs.
The discipline of medicine can be seen as a desire for control applied to the common good. But a doctor's own self-perception and biases can hinder their true assessment of a patient's problem, just as parents are (Reminds moms and dads about their own needs in a singularly uncomfortable way, maybe?) UPDATE:
Sara Bleich, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, studied the interactions between obese doctors and their overweight patients. She found that doctors who were obese were less likely to call out a patient for their weight issues. Another catch: those doctors don't feel adequate to give advice about diet and exercise. Fifty-one percent of primary care doctors are overweight, according to Bleich's findings, so those insecurities could affect a lot of people.
Listen to Think from noon to 2 p.m., Monday through Thursday, on 四虎影院 90.1. You can stream the show at
