Dr Nick Nelson walks through busy Highland Hospital to a sixth-floor exam room, where he sees patients from around the world who say they have fled torture and violence.
Dr Nelson, who practises internal medicine, is the medical director of the Highland Human Rights Clinic – part of the Alameda Health System – in Oakland, California. A few times each week, he and his team conduct medical evaluations of people who are seeking asylum in the United States. The doctors listen to the patients’ stories. They search for signs of trauma. They scrutinise injuries, including electrocution scars, bullet wounds and unset broken bones.