This review by John Halamka is worth a read. He discusses the emerging phenomenon of distracted doctoring – physicians preoccupied with technology at the expense of patient care. The review was followed closely by a New York Times piece on the same subject. We’re experiencing a crisis of information. Our channels of input have crossed wires and messages ... Continue Reading about Distracted Doctoring
The Stethoscope’s Quiet Eclipse
My concerns about the stethoscope’s future began at lunch recently among a group of doctors where it was suggested that the revered icon had evolved as an ornament of clinical medicine – an iconic relic of medicine’s past. Others around the table held firmly to the idea of the stethoscope as a critical diagnostic tool. The contrast was striking. The more I looked ... Continue Reading about The Stethoscope’s Quiet Eclipse
Rage Against the Machine
I was in an elevator at Texas Children's Hospital this weekend where there were a number of people looking at their smart phones. An older gentleman in the elevator remarked shaking his head, "I remember a time when people used to talk." Actually, no one talked in elevators. We've always stood the same direction and stared at the numbers at the top of the ... Continue Reading about Rage Against the Machine
Technology and Coming to Terms with What I Do
It all started when a bowl of Cheerios fried my old MacBook Pro keyboard. Knowing I was due for a new machine I picked up a wireless keyboard to get me through to the new MacBook Pro release. Then I got an iPad 2. Now I consume information a little differently and I’m hooked on travelling light. To complicate matters the new MacBook Pro is here. The whole ... Continue Reading about Technology and Coming to Terms with What I Do
Book Notes: Alone Together
This week I muscled through Sherry Turkle’s Alone Together – Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other (Basic Books, 2011/Affiliate link). It explores our increasingly perverse relationship with technology and how it impacts us psychologically. This book falls into what I call the contratech genre, an evolving niche critical of technology's runaway ... Continue Reading about Book Notes: Alone Together