title: Openings.
abstract: Reviewing his clinic patient schedule for the day, a physician reflects on the history of a young woman he has been caring for over the past 9 years. What starts out as a routine visit then turns into a unique opening for communication and connection. A chance glimpse out the window of the exam room leads to a deeper meditation on parenthood, survival, and healing, not only for the patient but also for the physician. How many missed opportunities have we all had, without even realizing it, to allow this kind of fleeting but profound opening?
authors.affiliation: Department of Family and Social Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York peter.selwyn@einstein.yu.edu.
authors.forename: Peter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Selwyn
mesh_terms: D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D003142:Communication; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*