Medicine is a profession of response. Physicians exist to respond to things. All day long my clinical work is sequence of responses to all kinds of things. Symptoms, signs, concerns, reactions, questions, findings on diagnostic studies. When my Epic inbox is empty I go home. There’s nothing to do. If things stop happening to children that need my input I’ll be out ... Continue Reading about Medicine is a Profession of Response
Within Normal Limits
If you poke around old medical records you’ll find WNL written in parts of the physical exam. Neurological: WNL. It means within normal limits. It’s the pen and ink dotphrase used through most of paper record history by physicians to indicate that the organ or system under exam was unremarkable. One of medicine’s most versatile and open-ended acronyms, within ... Continue Reading about Within Normal Limits
Doctors, Joy and Background Work
If you don't like the most basic problems faced by a specialty, you risk being miserable as a physician. Those who can't handle the background work end up in administration or taking an exit for something else. More important than the ability to embrace a specialty’s most basic problems is the ability to find joy in the process. For me, joy comes from engagement ... Continue Reading about Doctors, Joy and Background Work
Should I Be a Doctor or an Investor?
This question appeared on Twitter this week: Should I be a doctor or an investor? If you want to do what doctors do day-to-day, you should go to medical school. If you don’t know what doctors do on a day-to-day basis, you should probably figure it out. I’d recommend shadowing working clinicians in a busy setting. See what we do in the morning and at night. See what ... Continue Reading about Should I Be a Doctor or an Investor?
Is Telemedicine Really a Bust?
This from Chrissy Farr at CNBC today, Why telemedicine has been such a bust so far. Billions of investment dollars have been poured into apps and websites that offer this virtual consultations with physicians, ranging from Doctor on Demand to American Well. The theory behind them is that millennials would opt for a digital alternative to an in-person physician's ... Continue Reading about Is Telemedicine Really a Bust?
The Danger of What Doctors Were Trained to Do
I hear this a lot from young and mid-career physicians in the face of new information, “But I was trained to...” 'I was trained’ suggests knowledge and standards are static. The way things were done is the way things are done. It fuels the myth that our mentors could do no wrong and they knew everything. 'I was trained’ is a dangerous way to think. It closes us ... Continue Reading about The Danger of What Doctors Were Trained to Do