Medical students, please read no further. I am going to challenge one of the bedrock beliefs in medical training – the value of the physical examination. Indeed, I was taught of the primacy of the physical exam as a young pup during my 4 years of medical education in New York City. I believed it and did my best to acquire these skills from master diagnosticians. Indeed, this was one of the thrills of being a medical student – learning what those clicks and clacks meant when we listened to hearts with our stethoscopes, seeing changes of diabetes and other diseases when we peered into your eyes with an ophthalmoscope or palpating a pulsating aneurysm that was lurking in your abdomen. An Ophthalmoscope and Otoscope The Eyes and Ears of Medicine I was in awe of these seasoned physicians who could make a diagnosis just by watching a patient walk across the room. While I still think the physical examination is useful, I have found over the years that it is less valuab
MD Whistleblower presents vignettes and commentaries on the medical profession. We peek 'behind the medical curtain' and deliver candor and controversy in every post.