enya FASHION QUEEN

EDITOR Annie Chien｜TRANSLATOR Aurora Lin｜PHOTOGRAPHER Leon Hung｜LOCATION 醫願診所（iHope Clinic）

「願意多坐一會兒、多聽一句話」，是許多病人對醫願診所院長葉曙慶的形容。他同時也是蔡明興、江振誠、蔡依珊等各領域名人私藏的信任名單，理由很簡單：他身上不只有專業，還有一種很難被複製的溫度。35 歲那年，這位臺北醫學大學附設醫院腎臟科主治醫師，褪下白袍，成為病床上與腎臟癌對抗的病人，這場重症，讓他重新看見病人的無助與不安。

兩年前，他創立「醫願診所」，把大醫院的專業，和診所的隱私與從容，收進同一個空間；今年，他更把行醫多年累積的十三則真實故事，寫成新書《醫願：讓醫療回到理解與陪伴》。透過這一次專訪，我們邀請葉曙慶院長，聊他如何把理性的醫學判斷，翻譯成病人願意相信、也聽得懂的語言，以及關於長壽、全方位健康管理等現代人不可輕忽的方向。

Living Long Like Poetry, Writing Hope with Dawn
Nick Yeh, Director of iHope Clinic

“He’s willing to sit a little longer and listen a little more.” That is how many patients describe Nick Yeh, Director of iHope Clinic. He also happens to be a trusted physician quietly recommended among leading figures from different fields—including entrepreneur Tsai Ming-Hsing, celebrated chef André Chiang, and Patty Tsai. The reason is simple: beyond his medical expertise lies a warmth that cannot easily be replicated. At the age of 35, while serving as an attending nephrologist at Taipei Medical University Hospital, Dr. Yeh exchanged his white coat for a hospital gown after being diagnosed with kidney cancer himself. Confronting a life-threatening illness from the patient’s side of the bed profoundly reshaped his understanding of fear, uncertainty, and vulnerability.

Two years ago, he founded iHope Clinic, bringing together the clinical expertise of a major medical center with the privacy, comfort, and pace of a boutique clinic. This year, he further distilled years of medical practice into The Heart of Medicine: 13 Stories of Healing Through Understanding and Compassion, a collection of thirteen true stories drawn from his experiences. Through this interview, we invited Dr. Yeh to share how he transforms objective medical judgment into language that patients can both understand and trust, while discussing longevity, comprehensive health management, and the aspects of well-being that modern society can no longer afford to overlook.

生病前，葉醫師推著病人的病床走向手術室，是再稀鬆平常不過的工作行程；生病後，換成他自己躺在床上，看著天花板的燈管一根根往後移動，才第一次感受到，同一段路，被推的人和推床的人，焦慮感完全不一樣，也成為他重新理解病人的起點。

診斷與治療需要絕對的理性，這原本就是醫師的基本功。但他也發現，台灣醫學教育嚴格，醫師之間的專業程度其實相差不遠，真正拉開差距的，往往是怎麼把理性的判斷，說成病人聽得懂的話。他常舉一個例子：面對重症診斷，若只是冷冷陳述醫學事實，病人可能就此放棄治療；但若能用陪伴與同理，把同一件事說出口，病人願意配合，結果往往截然不同。有過病人的身分，讓他多了一種視角，也讓他更清楚，醫療裡最珍貴的，是關懷、同理心與準確的判斷並存。

Before his illness, wheeling patients into the operating room was simply part of Dr. Yeh’s daily routine. After becoming a patient himself, however, he found himself lying on the hospital bed, watching the fluorescent lights glide slowly across the ceiling as he was pushed down the same corridor. For the first time, he experienced how entirely different that journey feels from the patient’s perspective. It became the moment that fundamentally changed how he understood those under his care.

Diagnosis and treatment demand unwavering rationality—an essential skill every physician must possess. Yet Dr. Yeh also came to realize that while Taiwan’s rigorous medical education produces highly capable doctors with comparable levels of expertise, what truly distinguishes one physician from another is the ability to translate clinical judgment into words patients can genuinely understand. He often illustrates this with a simple example. When delivering the diagnosis of a serious illness, a doctor who presents only the cold medical facts may unintentionally leave a patient feeling defeated enough to abandon treatment. Yet when those same facts are conveyed with empathy and genuine companionship, patients are often willing to continue fighting—and the outcome can be profoundly different.
Having lived through illness himself, Dr. Yeh gained an entirely new perspective. It reinforced his belief that the greatest value in medicine lies in allowing compassion, empathy, and precise clinical judgment to exist together.

「醫願」兩個字，藏著葉醫師對諧音梗的熱愛，診間辦公室座位後方，那幅「依願」書畫，似乎也訴說他對行醫的理想。診所成立兩年，一口氣設立精準健檢、健保門診、抗老醫美、淨化透析四個中心，「當時真的像一次開了四家診所！」他說。四心環環相扣：健檢紅字，交給門診立即處理；淨化透析中心同時涵蓋醫美範疇的血液淨化，與他腎臟專科團隊長年照顧的洗腎病人，他堅持必須由專科醫師執行，並提供最好的設備與水源；而精準健檢中心的完善腸胃鏡，背後則需要一支專業麻醉團隊撐著，他也讓這份專業延伸至鳳凰電波等醫美療程：畢竟每年總有令人痛心的麻醉意外新聞，在他看來，麻醉需要專科等級的把關，不是流程裡可以輕易省略的一環。

回首成立診所至今，他記得某天巡房，中心裡幾位正在洗腎的病人，一邊治療、一邊拍著大腿，齊聲為他唱起生日快樂歌，成為近期讓他印象最深的畫面。像這樣的醫病情誼，也貫穿在《醫願：讓醫療回到理解與陪伴》裡，書中收錄的十三個真實故事，每篇結尾都有一帖「處方箋」，寫下故事背後的醫學知識。他也在自序提到父親的話：「『夢想』是詩，『努力』是那枝寫詩的筆。」這些年，他延伸出自己的體悟：「『回憶』是詩，『夢想』是那枝寫詩的筆。」過去是回憶，未來是夢想，現在，就是努力本身。

The Chinese name “醫願” reflects Dr. Yeh’s fondness for wordplay, while the calligraphy reading “依願” displayed behind his office chair quietly expresses the ideals that guide his medical practice. Since opening two years ago, iHope Clinic has established four integrated centers: Precision Health Screening, National Health Insurance Outpatient Services, Anti-Aging & Aesthetic Medicine, and Blood Purification & Dialysis. “It honestly felt like opening four clinics all at once,” he says with a smile. Each center complements the others seamlessly. Abnormal findings identified during health screenings can be addressed immediately through outpatient care. The Blood Purification & Dialysis Center serves both patients requiring long-term dialysis under his nephrology team and those seeking blood purification procedures within aesthetic medicine. Dr. Yeh insists that every treatment be performed exclusively by specialists while maintaining the highest standards for medical equipment and water purification. Meanwhile, the clinic’s comprehensive gastrointestinal endoscopy services rely on a dedicated anesthesia team. Dr. Yeh has extended that same specialist-level anesthesia support to aesthetic procedures such as Thermage FLX. In his view, the anesthesia-related accidents reported each year are heartbreaking reminders that anesthesia should never be regarded as a routine step where standards can be compromised—it deserves specialist oversight every bit as much as the procedure itself.

Looking back on the clinic’s journey, one memory remains especially vivid. During rounds one day, several dialysis patients gathered in the treatment center began patting their knees in rhythm as they sang “Happy Birthday” to him together. It is a moment he still treasures today. That same spirit of physician-patient connection runs throughout The Heart of Medicine: 13 Stories of Healing Through Understanding and Compassion. Each of the thirteen true stories concludes with a “prescription” that explains the medical knowledge behind the experience. In the book’s preface, Dr. Yeh recalls his father’s words: “Dreams are poetry; hard work is the pen that writes it.” Over the years, he has added his own reflection: “Memories are poetry; dreams are the pen that writes it.” The past becomes memory. The future remains a dream. The present is simply the work itself.

台灣正式邁入超高齡社會，葉醫師觀察，四、五十歲這一代人，其實是最辛苦的一群：上有年邁的父母，那是當年撐起台灣經濟起飛的一代；下有仍在成長的孩子。當長輩逐漸面臨失智、失能，家庭裡的每一次角色調整，都是心理上沉重的負擔，而社會變動的速度太快，許多過去難以想像的處境正在發生，老年世代未必能輕易適應，這不是遙遠的未來，而是現在進行式。比起追求活得久，葉醫師更在意的是「健康餘命」：那段身體機能與實際年齡相符、仍能自由行動、自在聊天的時光，而不是被臥床與失能填滿的晚年數字。

採訪最後，我們邀請葉醫師分享三個「此刻就能開始練習的健康習慣」給讀者，他的答案經過現場深思，且樸實的貼近人心：多喝水，讓身體維持基本的代謝平衡；找一項能持續做下去的適度運動；再來，替自己留一個興趣。在長壽時代，多數長者身體機能其實維持得很好，真正讓人失落的，往往是心裡的空缺，所以健康不單是身體，也包含心理。當我們隨著時間老去，當身邊熟悉的人漸漸走向遠方，在這個時代，找到一項能安放自己的興趣，正是為身心健康開出的一帖溫柔處方箋。

As Taiwan officially enters a super-aged society, Dr. Yeh observes that people now in their forties and fifties are often carrying the greatest burden. Above them are aging parents—the generation that helped build Taiwan’s economic rise. Below them are children still growing into adulthood.
As older family members begin facing dementia and physical decline, every shift in family roles brings immense emotional weight. Meanwhile, society is changing at a pace that many older generations never anticipated, making adaptation increasingly difficult. This is no distant future—it is already today’s reality. Rather than simply pursuing a longer lifespan, Dr. Yeh places far greater importance on healthy life expectancy—the years during which one’s physical abilities remain aligned with one’s age, allowing people to move freely, enjoy conversations, and live independently, instead of spending those years confined by disability or prolonged bed rest.

As our interview drew to a close, we invited Dr. Yeh to share three health habits that readers could begin practicing immediately. After a thoughtful pause, his answers were remarkably simple. Drink more water to support the body’s natural metabolic balance. Find a form of moderate exercise that you can genuinely sustain over time. And finally, cultivate a personal passion. In an era of increasing longevity, many older adults remain physically healthy. What often diminishes their quality of life is not the body, but the emptiness of the heart. True health, he believes, encompasses both physical and emotional well-being. As time carries us forward and familiar faces gradually drift away, discovering something that continues to bring purpose and joy may become the gentlest prescription we can write for ourselves—a quiet remedy for both body and soul.

專長：
•腎功能GFR回復逆轉
•急慢性腎臟病與感染
•消除水腫與血循改善
•蛋白尿與電解質異常
•腎絲球腎炎淨化療法
•三高、肥胖、高尿酸
•全人醫療與健康管理

經歷：
•醫願診所院長
•北醫附設醫院腎臟科資深主治醫師
•北醫附設醫院一般醫學內科主任
•北醫附設醫院ICU加護病房主任
•北醫附設醫院教學部首席教學長
•臺灣大學附設醫院內科住院醫師
•臺北醫學大學醫學資訊所博士班
•國家安全局義務役少尉醫官
•臺北醫學大學魔術社創社社長
•MIT麻省理工學院AI認證學程