Every Friday, Pulse--voices from the heart of medicine (www.pulsemagazine.org) sends its readers a compelling first-person story or poem about health care. These intimate and authentic voices of health professionals, patients and students have earned Pulse an enthusiastic and growing international readership. This volume includes every story and poem from Pulse's first year of publication. "All of the stories in this book...are told with a kind of urgency; these encounters change lives and mark memories. This collection is in some sense about writing for one's life..." Perri Klass, JAMA