Post by Brian Tuohy

Very proud to share a new essay, also recently published in Academic Medicine Journal, co-authored with a former student and now Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital Peds resident Agostina Waisfeld). The piece began as a discussion board response in my Advanced Topics in Bioethics course and became a moving essay about language, consent, and what it means for patients to be truly understood. At its heart is a question that should stay with us: what happens when understanding is assumed rather than confirmed? Agostina’s essay opens onto a larger challenge in medicine: the way language access often depends on informal, improvised, and uneven systems. Bilingual trainees, residents, interpreters, families, and care teams are all too often asked to bridge gaps that require more deliberate support. The essay helps us see that interpretation is not a courtesy or an add-on. It is central to ethical care, informed consent, dignity, and trust. Proud to see this out in the world Agostina!