I used to think they didn’t but they do. Clinical judgment is the application of individual experience to the variables of a patient’s medical presentation. It’s the hard worn skill of knowing what to do and how far to go in a particular situation. It’s having the confidence to do nothing. Clinical judgment is learned from seeing lots of sick people. Good ... Continue Reading about Phronesis: Do Patients Have Clinical Judgment?
The New Power of the Handwritten Note
Over the holiday break I had the opportunity to visit by phone with a Twitter acquaintance, Lisa Fields. We talked about all kinds of things and learned more about one another than 140 characters could ever allow. Perhaps the most important thing I learned about Lisa is that she’s someone I’d like to keep up with. Then a few days later I received a handwritten ... Continue Reading about The New Power of the Handwritten Note
Vaccines, Autism and Andrew Wakefield’s Victims
I thought we had seen Wakefield's last stand. But this week the British Medical Journal released a report detailing the calculated fraud that went into Andrew Wakefield’s 1998 Lancet publication linking the MMR vaccine with autism. What’s newsworthy is the extent to which the data reported by Wakefield was fabricated. For a thorough delineation of his shenanigans, ... Continue Reading about Vaccines, Autism and Andrew Wakefield’s Victims
Writing When There’s Something to Say
After last week’s post about Seth Godin and Tom Peters on Blogging, it was suggested in the comments that ‘we should be writing when there’s something to say.’ It got me thinking, how do I know when I have something worth sharing? I don’t. The value of what I write here is dependent on the eye of the reader. Or the value may be for me. Writing can be ... Continue Reading about Writing When There’s Something to Say
I See Patients
In The Sixth Sense there was that kid who saw dead people. I'm like that. But I see patients and their parents instead. They’re all around me. They’re watching at the grocery store when my kids act up. We meet during anniversary dinners, at Christmas Eve service and on the treadmill at the Y. I bump into parents when buying personal effects and even during the ... Continue Reading about I See Patients
My 3 Words for 2011
I awoke this morning to this post by Chris Brogan. He likes to think about 3 words for the New Year that will serve as guidance for his actions and goals. Not resolutions, but themes. The concept made me think: What are my 3 words for 2011? Ship. The curse of a fertile mind is to create at the expense of execution. Seth Godin in Linchpin uses ‘ship’ to refer to ... Continue Reading about My 3 Words for 2011