3 - Uncertainty in Medicine: Through Thick and Thin

The Nocturnists

In episode 3 of the "Uncertainty in Medicine" series, patient Dana undergoes a routine knee replacement and expects a straightforward recovery. Instead, she’s plunged into a baffling and relentless illness—one that defies diagnosis and leaves her life in limbo. As her symptoms intensify and specialists write her off, Dana finds an unwavering ally in her primary care doctor, the one person who refuses to let her fall through the cracks.

This episode traces their year-long search for answers, revealing the emotional cost of medical uncertainty and the rare power of a clinician who stays the course. Along the way, we visit Lewiston, Maine, where a small, intentional change to residents’ schedules is making the uncertainty of primary care more manageable and helping keep young doctors in the field.

Find show notes, transcripts, and more at thenocturnists.org, and subscribe to our substack.

The "Uncertainty in Medicine" series is generously funded by the ABIM Foundation, by the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, and the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation.

The Nocturnists is supported by The California Medical Association and donations from listeners like you.

This episode is sponsored by a new podcast that fans of the Nocturnists are sure to love. Unleashed: Redesigning Health Care features clinician-innovators who have changed care on the front lines. Their stories, their voices, their ingenuity. Learn more at unleashedpodcast.org.

Host: Emily Silverman, MD

Uncertainty Correspondent: Alexa Miller

Series Illustrations by Eleni Debo