Letters

You told me ... [the magazine] has a much broader effect than you'll probably ever know ... Wanted to let you know an effect and thank you.

I don't like to talk about my health too much outside of medical appointments because it's really not that interesting unless you're a doctor.

All of my doctors are at Beth Israel in Boston, which you may know is a teaching hospital for Harvard Med School.The med school started a new program last summer of assigning first year students to work with a practicing doctor for a year, and following a patient. My primary care doctor was assigned a student, and because I have a chronic illness, the three of us have been working together.

Prior to this, participating in med school lectures came up several times, but never happened . . . I made a determination when I first got sick that this illness would be medically valuable somehow . . .

This is where Facets comes in. That you and Anne took the initiative to create and keep it going encouraged me to be more active in trying to fulfill my determination, to create something out of this (I'd let it slide in some ways, because like I said, this illness fundamentally isn't that interesting to me).

I'm developing a great relationship with this student (her name's Riley), and she talks about how much she learns from the way my doctor and I interact . . .
And this is in the works: Channel 5 is doing one of those short medical spots on doctor/patient relationship with the three of us: Riley, my doctor, and me.

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Canal Reflections Photograph by Rinat Harel A friend of Facets founders Bill Routhier and Anne Hudson, who has a chronic, debilitating disease, let us know that the effort to create and sustain this magazine inspired her in an unforeseen way: You told me ... [the magazine] has a much broader effect than you'll probably ever know ... Wanted to let you know an effect and thank you. I don't like to talk about my health too much outside of medical appointments because it's really not that interesting unless you're a doctor. All of my doctors are at Beth Israel in Boston, which you may know is a teaching hospital for Harvard Med School.The med school started a new program last summer of assigning first year students to work with a practicing doctor for a year, and following a patient. My primary care doctor was assigned a student, and because I have a chronic illness, the three of us have been working together. Prior to this, participating in med school lectures came up several times, but never happened . . . I made a determination when I first got sick that this illness would be medically valuable somehow . . . This is where Facets comes in. That you and Anne took the initiative to create and keep it going encouraged me to be more active in trying to fulfill my determination, to create something out of this (I'd let it slide in some ways, because like I said, this illness fundamentally isn't that interesting to me). I'm developing a great relationship with this student (her name's Riley), and she talks about how much she learns from the way my doctor and I interact . . . And this is in the works: Channel 5 is doing one of those short medical spots on doctor/patient relationship with the three of us: Riley, my doctor, and me. Gayle Koch Boston, MA And from the mailbox: Facets has always appealed to me because of the experimental AND substantive (a very rare combination) nature of the publication. John Thomas Allen Albany, NY HOME