Ronald Ruskin | University of Toronto (original) (raw)

Papers by Ronald Ruskin

American Journal of Psychiatry, Apr 1, 1994

Objective: This article reports the results of a survey to collect data on the characteristics of... more Objective: This article reports the results of a survey to collect data on the characteristics ofpatients in psychoanalysis under a nationalized health insurance scheme. Method: A ques

Canadian Medical Association Journal, Aug 12, 2008

R afael Campo, a physician who teaches and practises internal medicine at Harvard Medical School ... more R afael Campo, a physician who teaches and practises internal medicine at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, is also an award-winning writer and poet whose luminous words explore fear's dark interiors. "The Enemy," the title poem in Campo's fifth collection of poetry not only views 9/11's traumatic losses-the disillusionment of personal and national security in our millennium-but asks the question of whether the enemy resides inside the self.

Canadian Medical Association Journal, Feb 28, 2006

L ena Ivanovic lived with her widowed mother in a semidetached home on Euclid Avenue. Thursday mi... more L ena Ivanovic lived with her widowed mother in a semidetached home on Euclid Avenue. Thursday midnight, the mother phoned Dr. Rubens, frantic. "Lena spits out food. Your pills poison her. Why did you stop seeing her?" "Mrs. Ivanovic, I left her phone messages." Rubens paused. "No one answers." "I answer," Mrs. Ivanovic interjected. "Why didn't you speak to me?" There was some commotion and a torrent of Russian. Mrs. Ivanovic's son, Viktor, took the phone. "Doctor, all day they argue. I came for March break yesterday to study at the library-Lena yanked out the phones-she smashed her cellphone. She won't eat. She stays in her room. I have a final law exam. She yells. What do I do?" Not again, Rubens thought to himself. "Bring Lena to emergency tomorrow. Do you have relatives or friends to help you?" Rubens asked. "I have cousins, Alexei and Boris. I'll ask them to help. They came last time." Rubens recalled her admission two years earlier. "Has she threatened anyone?" "Not this time. Two months ago she was fine."

American Psychiatric Press eBooks, 1994

American Journal of Psychiatry, Jul 1, 2007

Canadian Medical Association Journal, Apr 15, 2003

Canadian Medical Association Journal, Dec 9, 2003

Cmaj Canadian Medical Association Journal, Jan 21, 2003

Canadian Medical Association Journal, May 28, 2002

Canadian Medical Association Journal

Sometimes, I ask medical students to use a consultation from a different perspective to gain some... more Sometimes, I ask medical students to use a consultation from a different perspective to gain something other than the overt clinical presentation, and then to write a story or a poem (or a piece of music, a song, visual art) based on, and stimulated by, their observations. This allows them to concentrate on other aspects of the transaction without having to exercise their clinical acumen. It is a chance to observe more particularly the non-verbal language of both the patient and clinician, to note their interactions, the position of the chairs, the dynamics of the room, and the impact of another person, partner, parent, friend and child. What might the student gain from this approach? Additional information from the patient, certainly. Perhaps more insight into the effects of the circumstances on the patient, the physician and the companion. Perhaps an increase in self-awareness. These are all aspects that experienced clinicians will work into their consultations. The more so by giv...