A young man arrives in the Big City with two hundred dollars in his pocket, no English at all, and memories of horror so fresh that he sometimes confuses past and present. When Deo first told me about his beginnings in New York, I had a simple thought: “I would not have survived.” And then, two years later, he enrolls in an Ivy League university.  -- Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder on Deo Niyizonkiza, in his book, Strength in What Remains Following a childhood witn

BERKELEY, Calif. — Kamran Abri makes “tent calls” here in Berkeley, where the homeless live in doorways, on streets, under bushes, in parks, and in ramshackle villages under freeway offramps. An energetic young medical student with dark, penetrating eyes, Mr. Abri and a small team visited one such village at dusk last week. There were 20 or so tents sheltering 50 people, with cooking stoves, backpacks, plastic folding chairs and butane canisters strewn about. “If someone come

To combat the COVID-19 outbreak, the media focused almost exclusively on the outer shield . That is, minimizing spread. This includes physical distancing. Washing hands with soap and water for 20 seconds. Alcohol sanitizers. Disinfecting tabletops and door knobs. Wearing disposable masks and gloves. This is the first line of defense. And it is vital. But there’s a second, equally important and often overlooked line of defense: the inner shield . That is, your immune system. T

I'm Steve Loyd, and I'm hurting. With these words, Stephen Loyd, MD, began his first 12-step group meeting. His addiction to pain pills had escalated to about 100 a day by 2004 when his father intervened. “I’m gonna lose my wife, my family, my house and cars,” Dr. Loyd said when confronted. "None of that stuff’s gonna do you any good if you’re dead,” his father said. It was a hard road to recovery, but it led Dr. Loyd on a path that eventually had him rising from addict to Te

Be present to other people, understand that your first effort and your second and your fifteenth will be imperfect, but just keep plugging away at it. Anybody can do these things, you know? I know that we often do not -- I often do not -- but anyone could do these things: to be present to others, to stick with something over a long time. Paul Farmer is a doctor, anthropologist, Harvard professor, and “world-class Robin Hood” who has dedicated his life to improving health care