Lies to a Patient

It was another routine afternoon in my office practice. My next patient was a 51-year-old woman, Mrs. K., presenting for an annual physical examination and a Pap smear.

Mrs. K. and I exchanged the usual greetings and pleasantries. Noting my appearance and accent, she asked me where I was born and raised. I told her about my country of birth, India, and she mentioned how eager she was to visit that beautiful country someday.

During the course of taking a social history, I found out that she was a nurse, was born in Massachusetts, was married, and had 2 grown children. She asked me if I had any children, and I told her that I did not. In the 25 minutes of history-taking, we felt very comfortable with each other. I was pleased that I had established a healthy rapport with Mrs. K., a nurse by profession, whom I was seeing for the first time. She mentioned how …