In his book, Too Big to Know, David Weinberger suggests that information is becoming the problem rather than the solution. There used to be a nurse practitioner in another specialty in my hospital who copied those involved in a child's care with every encounter. Anything - phone calls, routine visits, etc. The rationale was that "it's better to be too informed ... Continue Reading about Human Bandwidth Will Never Scale to Match Clinical Supply
Capture
Information is becoming a huge part of my world. All day it comes at me like a stream through a growing number of channels. Scraps, stories, bits of language, quotes, weird angles, pictures, unique human tensions, links and concepts. These can be virtual, IRL, or in my mind. Perhaps the most important things are the ideas that come to me by way of the things I ... Continue Reading about Capture
An Institution’s Responsibility to a Public Physician
We talk a lot about the responsibility of doctors to respect a certain standard when it comes to their public presence. I’ve suggested that we’re accountable to our communities, colleagues and our patients. Extreme views and rogue behavior have a way of reflecting badly on those around us. The question then becomes, what responsibility do institutions, colleagues ... Continue Reading about An Institution’s Responsibility to a Public Physician
The Case for New Physician Literacies in the Digital Age
This is the rough narrative of a presentation on new physician literacies delivered at Stanford's Medicine X on September 30, 2012 I’m convinced I was born at just the right time in history. I was trained as an analog physician but I’m a witness to medicine’s digital transformation. It’s really a remarkable time to be in medicine. And one of the key forces ... Continue Reading about The Case for New Physician Literacies in the Digital Age
For Doctors, the World is Too Big to Know
I recently read Too Big to Know by David Weinberger. Times have changed. We used to get information from books or experts. But now knowledge is on the network. Patients have access to the same information as doctors. Everything we understand about knowledge, where it lives, and how it’s shared is changing. Too Big to Know occupies itself with the fact that the ... Continue Reading about For Doctors, the World is Too Big to Know
Repurposing Physician Knowledge
Everyday I work with some of the world's most remarkable pediatricians. Doctors who have not only pioneered the latest advances in genetics and infectious disease but who have the experience of caring for some of the sickest children imaginable. What’s remarkable is the knowledge and experience living inside of these doctors - so little of what they know has been ... Continue Reading about Repurposing Physician Knowledge