We do not always rage against the dying of the light. Sometimes, we allow the light to fade gently, with grace, in the presence of love.

Nezienwa Ezenwa reflects on a patient who demonstrated that medicine is not just about defying death. It is about honoring life.

This essay placed first in the 2025 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest and was published in the December 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

Something shifted after that conversation. It wasn't a dramatic overnight change, but it was there—the slightest flicker of fight in him again. He started pushing himself a little more, engaging in physical therapy instead of just going through the motions. He cracked a joke with the nurses.

Roz Agheli reflects on a patient who was kept alive by medicine but kept fighting because of hope.

This essay placed first in the 2025 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest and was published in the December 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

Discussing Academic Medicine's and MedEdPORTAL's new policy guiding the use of AI tools in the peer review process are editors-in-chief Laura Roberts, MD, MA, and Lauren Maggio, PhD, MS(LIS), Academic Medicine associate editor Krisztina Fischer, MD, PhD, MMSc, and AAMC director of journals Mary Beth DeVilbiss. They provide an overview of the journals' new policy and use a series of common peer review scenarios to explore what's appropriate, what's not, and what you should think about before using AI as a reviewer.

Check out the resources discussed, including the journals' AI policies for reviewers and authors, and access the episode transcript at academicmedicineblog.org.

Mrs. Jones didn't need a cure. She needed a witness to her grief—someone to sit with her in the silence, to validate the love she had for her husband and the life they built. She needed to be heard.

Christine Dianne Nepomuceno reflects on a patient who taught her that healing is not always about medicine. Sometimes it is about holding space for someone in their most vulnerable moments.

This essay placed second in the 2025 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest and was published in the November 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

Dora taught me that care is not just found in grand gestures or lifesaving procedures. It is in the quiet moments when someone chooses to listen, to sit beside another in their suffering, and to act when no one else will.

Maria Jose Gomez reflects on a patient who taught her that compassion does not require a title, a degree, or authority.

This essay placed second in the 2025 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest and was published in the November 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

In the fast-paced world of health care, it's easy to focus on numbers, treatments, and protocols. But humanism requires us to pause, to listen, to acknowledge the fears, hopes, and humanity of our patients.

Vonnie Cesar reflects on learning that listening is not just a skill—it is a form of healing.

This essay placed third in the 2025 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest and was published in the October 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

Discussing new research into how the physical and social context of the clinical learning environment shape power dynamics and influence equity in assessment for residents are author Hannah Kakara Anderson, PhD, MBA, Research in Medical Education Committee member Binbin Zheng, PhD, MEd, and AAMC MedEdSCHOLAR Nicole Findlay, MD, MPH. Empowering clinician educators to actively address the forces of space, place, and pace, they argue, can help promote a more equitable learning and assessment environment.

Read the article discussed and access the episode transcript at academicmedicineblog.org.

Our stories make us human and shape the doctors we become. Yet, we rarely let our pasts show from beneath our white coats.

Sydney Katz reflects on how little trainees and attendings know about one another outside of the hospital.

The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the December 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.