Foreign Relations

摘要

In a large Colombian teaching hospital, a fifty-five-year-old woman complaining of stomach pain is examined by a foreign-exchange medical student from the United States. Speaking in Spanish, the student elicits a medical history that suggests a possible recurrence of gallstones, but nothing further. The physical exam is unremarkable. Upon discussing the patient's case in private with the attending physician, the student is shocked to learn that the patient is suffering from terminal, met-astatic gastric cancer but is unaware of her diagnosis.