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HOWARD GOLDSTEIN

Author Profile

Dr. Howard Goldstein is a recently retired Toronto-area GP. His blogs offer personal perspectives and reflections on the many facets of medical practice, informed by his 49 years of experience.

ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR

  • 6/3/2024

    The circle

    Dr. Howard Goldstein reflects on how certain memories of violence in his formative years in University mirror the events of today.
    HOWARD GOLDSTEIN
    a man wearing a suit and tie smiling at the camera
  • 4/10/2024

    The subtleties of time

    Retirement is a stranger, an unknown until reality allows you to define it in your own terms. It is not a continuum of the professional persona. For some it is a paradise found, for others, an identity lost.
    HOWARD GOLDSTEIN
    a man wearing a suit and tie smiling at the camera
  • 2/11/2024

    The not-so-royal we

    I commend the King for his transparency about his health—but he could do even more.
    HOWARD GOLDSTEIN
    a man wearing a suit and tie smiling at the camera
  • 1/14/2024

    The meeting

    Dr. Howard Goldstein reflects on how strange it is to refer to yourself as a doctor in the past tense upon retirement.
    HOWARD GOLDSTEIN
    a man wearing a suit and tie smiling at the camera
  • 11/29/2023

    Two red lines: A retrospective

    After managing to avoid COVID-19 for 1,313 days, I finally saw those two little red lines on a test. Looking back at the journey we’ve been on with the pandemic, I think you might be surprised how much you’ve already forgotten.
    HOWARD GOLDSTEIN
    a man wearing a suit and tie smiling at the camera
  • 9/27/2023

    Finding humanity: The lost heart of medicine

    Dr. Howard Goldstein challenged doctors in his Virtual Retirement Lounge group to come up with keynote addresses to the class of 2023.
    HOWARD GOLDSTEIN
    a man wearing a suit and tie smiling at the camera
  • 8/21/2023

    The ‘tipping’ point

    What if doctors were allowed tipping terminals in their offices? A chalkboard menu of available goods and services could be wall-mounted in the waiting room, prices listed in bold cursive and brilliant colour, modified with every PSA negotiation.
    HOWARD GOLDSTEIN
    a man wearing a suit and tie smiling at the camera
  • 7/9/2023

    The perils of patient portals: lost in translation

    My doctor began by stating the purpose of the call—to review my MRI report. I advised that I'd already read the report in MyChart and had a copy in front of me for our collective review. “That shouldn’t happen,” he said. I couldn’t have agreed more.
    HOWARD GOLDSTEIN
    a man wearing a suit and tie smiling at the camera
  • 5/30/2023

    Sorry I can’t take your call, please leave a message

    Of cottages, pancreatic cancer and a strange little "phone booth" in the Ontario wilderness.
    HOWARD GOLDSTEIN
    a man wearing a suit and tie smiling at the camera
  • 5/28/2023

    In the afterglow

    My barber of more than 40 years asked me whether I missed being a doctor. After a few years in retirement, only now do I feel the loss of what medical practice has meant to me for so long.
    HOWARD GOLDSTEIN
    a man wearing a suit and tie smiling at the camera