My back hurts. For Mitchell Benson’77, chair of urology at P&S, those three words are a touchstone.

A patient sits in a waiting room at Columbia’s Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, referred to Columbia based on reported symptoms and a recent blood test.

On a cold Sunday in February 1942, 50 doctors and 105 nurses from New York’s Presbyterian Hospital reported to Fort Meade, Md., to begin basic military training.

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — On a sweltering morning on a red-earth lane a few blocks from the largest mosque in this West African capital, Jeneba Kabba stands up. A tall, striking woman with a serious manner, Mrs. Kabba has been sitting under an awning…

Could an eight-hour class prevent tragedies triggered by psychiatric disorders? On the morning of September 16, 2013, a 34-year-old U.S. Navy technology contractor named Aaron Alexis shot and killed 12 people inside the Washington, D.C., Navy Yard…

It is the middle of April 2006, and I am seated on an examining table on the third floor of the New York University Clinical Cancer Center, waiting to hear about my future. My presence here was requested in the strongest possible terms because…

The first thing you notice about 12-year-old Nora Leitner is the dark circles under her eyes. They stand in stark contrast to the rest of her appearance; at a glance she might be any petite, pretty tween girl, with her blond ponytail, elfin frame and…

On a cold Sunday in February 1942, 50 doctors and 105 nurses from New York’s Presbyterian Hospital reported to Fort Meade, Md., to begin basic military training. At the request two years earlier of the Army Surgeon General, the group had assembled to

On July 9, 2009, Steve Wulchin went to wake his 19-year-old son, Eric, in their home in Boulder, Colo. Eric had been given a diagnosis of epilepsy three years earlier, but other than that, his father said, “there was nothing out of the ordinary.” His…

"My back hurts." For Mitchell Benson ’77, chair of urology at P&S, those three words are a touchstone. Twenty years ago, before the use of PSA screening for prostate cancer became routine, back pain was a common complaint of men walking in the door…

Epilepsy affects some 2.7 million Americans—more than Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease) combined. More than half of patients can achieve seizure control with treatment, yet almost a third…

Months before the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved aducanumab (Aduhelm), the first medication thought to modify the progression of Alzheimer's disease, on June 7, Jay Reinstein had already made the decision to try it. Reinstein, 60, was…

Few human experiences bring a wilder wave of clarity and chaos, purpose and doubt, deep fulfillment and new fear than motherhood. As the joys of parenting evolve to meet each new phase, so do the struggles. On top of stress, sleep deprivation, and…

A patient sits in a waiting room at Columbia’s Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, referred to Columbia based on reported symptoms and a recent blood test. His nascent chart includes his age, birthplace, current medications, profession,…

SCARSDALE, N.Y. — On Oct. 3, 2005, the eve of Rosh Hashana, Ali and Marissa Newman and their parents, Stacey and Rick, drove from their home here to Long Island to have dinner with cousins. It was supposed to be a pleasant holiday, a time to be with…