This sounds like a crazy question. But it really isn’t. What does a doctor do? What's my job with my patients. What is a doctor's role? Some of what I do is transactional. Simple stuff with clear end-points. Some of it involves critical conversations and deeper kinds of thinking, planning, and translating. Breaking my job down into different roles I got to ... Continue Reading about What is a Doctor’s Role?
Advice for Medical Graduates That We Least Expect
Every year that physicians have used social media, we’ve been talking about the July start for new doctors. And every year we offer our advice for medical graduates. Each year new grads echo their cries of reservation. And each year we stand by telling them that everything is going to be okay. Tips and tricks for surviving the unsurvivable are almost too numerous ... Continue Reading about Advice for Medical Graduates That We Least Expect
The Problem with Predicting Physician Supply and Demand
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has released a report, The Complexities of Physician Supply and Demand: Projections from 2018 to 2033, predicting a substantial future shortfall of physicians. The AAMC represents medical schools and teaching hospitals and offers services to its member institutions including medical education data. Trying to ... Continue Reading about The Problem with Predicting Physician Supply and Demand
Percussion – An Obsolete Physician Skill?
Not long ago the internet was captivated by the video clip of a physician using a wine glass to teach percussion. The display elicited a sense of nostalgia and long-lost wisdom. The clip put 20th and 21st century medicine into stark contrast. But when was the last time you used percussion to make a diagnosis? Predictably, every smartypants in the audience has ... Continue Reading about Percussion – An Obsolete Physician Skill?
See One Do One Teach One – Halsted’s Paradigm
See one do one teach one is old school clinical education in a nutshell. Popularized by early 20th century surgical pioneer William Halsted, it captures a medicine-by-the-seat-of-your-pants mindset that defined more than a generation. It’s how I was taught and how I was taught to teach. But even a half-competent clinician knows you can’t teach something you’ve ... Continue Reading about See One Do One Teach One – Halsted’s Paradigm
Butterfly iQ Moments – Should Med Students Have a POCUS?
During its revered white coat ceremony last week The University of California Irvine School of Medicine gave Butterfly iQ pocket ultrasound devices to its medical students. The future, it seems, belongs to POCUS (point of care ultrasound). Twitter lit up. Social sentiment pinned the Butterfly iQ as the new stethoscope. Every armchair futurist was over the ... Continue Reading about Butterfly iQ Moments – Should Med Students Have a POCUS?