"ONCE A MONTH, I open e-mail with an extra rush on anticipation. It’s usually the day after my column, “The Doctor Files,” runs in the Health Section of the Los Angeles Times. Because the column shares true stories as well as the emotional side of doctoring, it invariably touches someone. Sometimes I receive as many as 20 responses—positive and negative. I might go through a dozen drafts to produce my final 800-word version, but I consider the time well spent. Revealing medicine’s humanity and inner workings to readers has become, in a way, my personal crusade. I’m an infectious diseases and tropical medicine specialist. Since 1987, I’ve also been a broadcast journalist, a lay lecturer, a magazine writer, and a columnist. I didn’t set out to combine medicine and communications. In fact, 17 years ago, as a rookie ID attending, the possibility of someday linking two careers never crossed my mind. ... If you want to tool up, fine; there are many avenues to learning the crafts of print and broadcast journalism, even acting classes and Toastmasters to aid effective public speaking. But the foremost key is discovering your own message and passion, whether it be antibiotic use and abuse, food and water safety, or vaccination. Most importantly, never underestimate the power of a human story, simply and honestly told. And in infectious diseases, do we have stories."