When I meet patients in the office, our conversations do not focus exclusively on the medical issue at hand. Of course, if you come to see me with a stomach ache, at some point I will direct the dialogue toward your abdomen. Often, our conversations are far removed from livers and pancreases, and deal with more personal vignettes and anecdotes. Why does this happen? First, I enjoy it; and secondly, it helps me to understand the patient better as a human being. I won’t give this up, despite the many forces – Electronic Medical Records in particular – that conspire to dehumanize the medical experience. I am a trained typist and had several secretarial jobs in my younger days. The tool of the trade then was a contraption unknown to the generation whom are now soldered to their smart phones. It was called a typewriter. For those curious, you might actually be able to palpate one of these dust covered devices in your grandmother’s attic. My favorite was the IBM Selectric, w
MD Whistleblower presents vignettes and commentaries on the medical profession. We peek 'behind the medical curtain' and deliver candor and controversy in every post.