It’s often assumed that decision making in medicine should be done slowly. As a young trainee I was lead to believe that the doctor with slow medical thinking is more thorough. Conversely we assume the faster moving professional is cutting corners. But the time in any clinical day is fixed and our bandwidth is a zero-sum game. While respecting the risk for ... Continue Reading about Fast and Slow Medical Thinking
The Human Nature of Clinic Schedules
Doctors have clinic schedules. Based on these schedules, patients are expected to arrive at a certain time. In turn, they expect a certain amount of face time with the doctor. In my clinic, a new patient is scheduled for 30 minutes and a follow-up 15 minutes. But humans and their problems rarely fit into 15 and 30 minute blocks. So how does it work? Something ... Continue Reading about The Human Nature of Clinic Schedules
How Physicians Should Handle Conflict of Interest on Twitter
Very carefully. Using constrained media (apps where you don’t have enough room to really spell things out, like Twitter or Instagram) to pitch the products of companies that support us as physicians is tricky territory. How we handle conflict of interest with digital media needs discussion. Proper disclosure of conflict of interest is hard to achieve Solutions for ... Continue Reading about How Physicians Should Handle Conflict of Interest on Twitter
Positive MedTwitter
I woke up this morning facing the first of three days of weekend coverage. Two perfectly spaced calls overnight cut my sleep in 3. It was a morning that I could use some good vibes. MedTwitter and its stream of angry agendas So, like most mornings, I reach for MedTwitter to see what my peers think is important. Thumb flicking through I find a stream overrun with ... Continue Reading about Positive MedTwitter
What Did the Rectal Examination Show?
When I was a medical student I had an attending who would fail medical students who failed to universally perform the rectal examination. He would gloat on rounds when reviewing admissions with the trainees. Stopping dramatically during the middle of the presentation of the physical exam, he would smile broadly, look around at the team and ask, “So what did the ... Continue Reading about What Did the Rectal Examination Show?
Small Doctors in Big White Lab Coats
After some deliberation, Johns Hopkins Hospital leadership has determined that their medical interns may wear long white lab coats. Until now the short white lab coat defined medical interns and the age old pecking order of postgraduate medicine in Baltimore. Woulda killed to hear that debate. Although I know how important this stuff can be to young ... Continue Reading about Small Doctors in Big White Lab Coats