Expert patients: learning from HIV

The outbreak of HIV in the early 1980s saw widespread activism among patients and community supporters. The author, a young physician in San Francisco at the time, describes how coming of age as a clinician in the midst of this activism affected her concept of the patient–physician relationship. The insistence of a particular patient, Robert, on specifying his treatment goals illustrates that even people with substantial cognitive challenges can participate in their own care in an egalitarian and active manner.