Medicine warns doctors not to get too close. I’m glad mine did anyway Rethinking the culture of clinical detachment

https://www.statnews.com/2025/06/02/doctor-patient-relationships-emotional-distance-connection-personal-story/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--GWyEMBXBDTgguwPJZm8iymfOtDC08O_LDMO0mCO25hlhrngOvJy4xPm1C2niY7lp-0ninnBc8MnUKXbpcyFZiN-QFbQ&_hsmi=364291295&utm_content=364291295&utm_source=hs_email Rethinking the culture of clinical detachment Kate Solpari spent so much time in hospitals growing up that she invented a game to play during morning rounds: contorting her face into increasingly ridiculous expressions to see which doctors actually looked up from their charts. As she writes in a new First Opinion essay, she was looking for someone who could see both her and her medical condition. There were two doctors who did, and they changed her life. In medicine, there is a belief that emotional distance is essential. This idea is not without merit, Solpari writes. Still, she would like to imagine a medical system that embraces emotional investment as a strength rather than a liability. The two doctors who changed her life — by both treating her condition and nurturing her independence and curiosity — serve as inspirations for Solpari now, as she prepares for her first year of medical school. Read more about her journey with Dr. L and Dr. Z.