During a recent solo dinner at a local restaurant a gentleman sat down next to me at the bar and put his phone between us. To my disgust, he had miserable phone hygiene. His screen was caked with a think layer of biomatter. I could only imagine - which was the problem. Knowing that a phone is ten times dirtier than a toilet seat, I moved. Sounds extreme, ... Continue Reading about Phone Hygiene – Technology as a Reflection of Ourselves
Who Owns a Physician’s Smartphone?
In 1994 when I was a first year gastroenterology fellow cell phones were expensive and scarce. When I was on call I stayed close to the house and my personal land line phone. If I was paged out at dinner I used a pay phone or begged the hostess to borrow the house phone. So we petitioned our division chief to buy a cell phone for fellow use during weekend call. It ... Continue Reading about Who Owns a Physician’s Smartphone?
Analog Discipline
This story by Iltifat Hussain over at iMedicalApps is worth a peek. Apparently he had given his medical student brother an iPad for his clinical clerkships. He went on to receive an unfavorable evaluation by an attending for being 'too dependent on his iPad during rounds.' I wonder what this attending was trying to teach him. I suspect he comes from a ... Continue Reading about Analog Discipline
Leaders and Their Smartphones
Recently I realized that really important people aren't fixated on their smartphones. I spent time recently with some very influential people. Higher ups, leaders, mucky mucks. I never saw them look at their smartphones. Next time you're around a real leader, take note. You would never know that they even own a phone. I suspect they have better things to ... Continue Reading about Leaders and Their Smartphones
iPhone Attribution Error – When Patients Think the Doctor is Texting
This post from nurse blogger SaraBethRN is important. She recounts an experience where she referenced her iPhone for a lab value and was accused of texting on the job. This has happened to me on a couple of occasions. It’s the iPhone attribution error: If you’re looking at your iPhone, you must be goofing off. We sometimes associate phone use with those who are ... Continue Reading about iPhone Attribution Error – When Patients Think the Doctor is Texting