![An imbalance that needs fixing.](https://theamericanmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/article_4853_qIOieFXvWP.jpg)
Women in surgery
Too few American female medical students are choosing surgery, a pattern that needs to change.
![Actor Alan Alda has set up a school to simplify communication and language.](https://theamericanmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/article_4829_XD9JWt5Vah.jpg)
The bone boys
Doctors can suffer from the "curse of knowledge," speaking in jargon patients struggle to understand.
![American doctors are facing a deepening cultural challenge.](https://theamericanmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/article_4781_hb9tEpPYG1.jpg)
Cultural competence
Medical care in the 21st-century includes learning how to deal with the complexities of diversity.
![Director of the Pasteur Institute, established in 1887, until his death.](https://theamericanmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/article_4736_nOrLtA64yR.jpg)
Happy accidents
Some life-changing medications are lucked on, but even luck begs the right circumstances.
![Conservative and professional attire helps with credibility but medical judgment comes first.](https://theamericanmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/article_4697_hsfKt3lDxL.jpg)
Looking to heal
In the absence of a steadfast dress code, just what should a 21st-century doctor look like?
![The procedure allows for easier fitting of prosthesis.](https://theamericanmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/article_4643_Xh7KHdmJL8.jpg)
The creative knife
Some surgeries are imaginative enough to incorporate the genetics of great art.
![Pictures of disease as it's happening.](https://theamericanmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/article_4609_kfRBj6rvFw.jpg)
Slices of life
Cell staining is vital to biologists and doctors, but it also dishes up a stunning kind of artistry.
![Peri means surrounding; "tachy" means rapid.](https://theamericanmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/article_4591_6XuP53HxUa.jpg)
Doctor talk
Medical brain stretching requires learning your words, and a father can come in handy.
![Music, like voice, fascinates animal species.](https://theamericanmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/article_4560_pKO9FrJsIX.jpg)
Brain and music
Responses to music can thrill and sate the body like sex and food. The question is why.
![|](https://theamericanmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/article_4487_l69XT273Ma.jpg)
Under the skin
Understanding Ebola rationally means studying how bacteria works and a virus is born.
![Pain is the body’s alarm system.](https://theamericanmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/article_4459_yTwDjf0zqG.jpg)
Pain by any name
Killing minor human pain can seem like a simple process. In fact, it's anything but.