May 9, 2011 was the first day of my third year of medical school, first day on the cardiology inpatient service, and the first day I met Ms. W, my first patient. Ms. W was a 77 year old woman with COPD, right-sided heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, and was in the ICU for ARDS due to spontaneous hemorrhage of unknown etiology. Because taking care of Ms. W would be challenging and overwhelming, my senior resident and I walked into Ms. W’s room together for introductions. I naively expected t ...
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