I have a friend who dogs me about declaring my ignorance in certain situations. During a team meeting about a research project there was mention of a software package that I should have known about but had not used before. I brought it up. We went down a brief rabbit hole discussing why it worked in this situation - It opened up a fresh discussion about what we were ... Continue Reading about Act Like You’ve Been There Before
When Patients See a New Doctor
I recently filled in for a colleague who couldn’t make it to clinic. Families were given the option to reschedule but most were fine seeing me, the new doctor. Some of these children had seen my colleague for years. And few knew what it was like to talk to someone different about their child’s chronic bowel disease. It was kind of a big deal. What were ... Continue Reading about When Patients See a New Doctor
What Medical Students Need to Know – The Zero-Sum Curriculum
You don’t have to spend too much time on Twitter to find ideas about what people think medical students need to know. From health economics and climate change to value-based care and informatics, it seems there’s no shortage of new competencies. And every person with a new suggestion about what doctors need to master believes their idea would be transformative. ... Continue Reading about What Medical Students Need to Know – The Zero-Sum Curriculum
Do You Need Permission to Love Surgery?
Last week on Twitter I watched a surgeon ask if it was okay to say that he loved to operate. But as a surgeon do you really need someone's permission to love surgery? A bizarre question on one level. Understandable in the context of online culture. So how have we reached a point where a surgeon can’t express that his chosen work is something he ... Continue Reading about Do You Need Permission to Love Surgery?
What Bonobos Can Teach Us About Health Care
I needed a jacket and I wanted a fresh look. So I went to the Market Street Bonobos in The Woodlands, TX. I had never been there before. I read that they were doing things differently. The dance of sizing up a human being In I go. I meet the general manager, Kristy. We pick out a casual, unconstructed blazer. I like it. But then Kristy grabs me one of ... Continue Reading about What Bonobos Can Teach Us About Health Care
Physician Tolerance and the Six Sigma Clinic
There’s a concept in manufacturing called tolerance. It’s the error allowed as part of the process of making stuff. Engineering tolerance is the permissible limit or limits of variation in: a physical dimension; a measured value or physical property of a material, manufactured object, system, or service ... — Wikipedia In medicine patient care is increasingly ... Continue Reading about Physician Tolerance and the Six Sigma Clinic