Patients are not just the sum of their often limited check-ups and lab results.  They come to their doctor with many behaviors and influences that affect their overall health.  How nutritious is their food, how healthy is their living environment and what are their genetic predispositions among other things?  Can they even maintain regular contact with the health system absent appropriate transportation? And yet in our medical system, often following the protocols established by large medical groups and insurance companies can a doctor really gain that perspective within the limited amount of time they are able to spend with their patients?  Our guest, Dr. Dean-David Schillinger, a primary care physician at San Francisco General Hospital and author of “Telltale Hearts: A Public Health Doctor, His Patients, and the Power of Story” reveals what he has discovered is necessary to truly understand his patients, often poor and marginalized people, who have more chronic conditions than others in our society.  Empathy and science create the alchemy necessary to address their needs.