MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'art of medicine'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:21:09 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3982015&cid=t_128597_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fhuman-touch-does-it-belong-in-medicine%2F2010.09.18 The New York Times asks: “Should the doctor hold a patient’s hand” during emotional times? The comments that follow the short article are the most interesting. Most readers say this question shouldn’t even be asked and that human compassion should always win out. Touch is a human gesture of comfort and understanding. But some readers disagree. One said she recoiled when the doctor reached out to touch her hand after telling her that her cancer had returned. It felt really creepy to her. Another asked: “What if the physician is also a Catholic priest or a pediatrician and a priest?” Whoa. It becomes more complex when you get into the psyche of the abused. I have often thought that one of the appeals of chiropractors is that they “lay on hands&#... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3982015 Sat, 18 Sep 2010 14:00:00 +0100 3982015 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2348805&cid=t_128597_113_f&fid=34634&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FEmrAndHipaa%2F%7E3%2FA2AMFhX_-1s%2F In a recent article in the new CMIO magazine, W. Ed Hammond, MD, professor emeritus of biomedical engineering at Duke University, says “The art of medicine has to change. It’s wasteful if it doesn’t.” This is not a message that many doctors want to hear. Unfortunately, it’s the raw truth. Change isn’t easy. However, if we want to realize the full potential of an EHR and health care in general then doctors and other health care providers need to change the art of medicine to be more effective, more efficient and more accurate. Related posts:Selfish Doctors Don’t Want to Change for EMR I agree wholeheartedly that technology shouldn’t make it so that...Win $10k For Your Best Healthcare Idea I came across an interesting idea today from the Change...A C... EMR and HIPAA blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2348805 Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:18:55 +0100 2348805 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1926385&cid=t_128597_87_f&fid=34595&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnhsblogdoc.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F11%2Fdying-art-of-general-practice.html All new cases of indigestion in patients over 55 should be investigated. Of course they should. No place for “white medicine” here. Straight off for an endoscopy. That’s what the protocol says. It is wrong. There is still a place for a short course of white medicine. Trouble is, get it wrong one way and you are the Page 3 pin-up in the Daily Mail under the headline “Doctor treats stomach cancer patient with indigestion medicine”. Get it wrong the other way, and the queues out of the endoscopy clinic are round the corner and down the road. By the time the patient gets to the end of the queue his stomach cancer has spread and has become inoperable.Ah!............the art of medicine. It will soon be gone as the protocol driven, cheap and cheerful “health care professionals” take... NHS Blog Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1926385 Sat, 01 Nov 2008 08:49:00 +0100 1926385 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1508013&cid=t_128597_90_f&fid=34499&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcalifmedicineman.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F06%2Finteresting-case-of-co-rumination.html I haven't written much about actual medical cases I see here at my hospital but this one intrigued me. Some details have been altered of course.A 30ish female showed up in our emergency department complaining of a sharp, stabbing pain in her left neck (10 out of 10 in intensity) for several days along with a palpable mass over the area. The pain had been present for two to three months but not nearly this intense nor had the mass been as large. She also complained of fatigue, shortness of breath, tactile fevers (felt hot but hadn't actually checked her temperature), and a range of other symptoms. The intern who presented this case to me found absolutely nothing on physical exam: normal vital signs, no mass, lungs clear, etc.My impression just from the presentation was that this was unadult... California Medicine Man blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1508013 Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:53:00 +0100 1508013 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1336637&cid=t_128597_90_f&fid=34499&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcalifmedicineman.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F03%2Ffrom-dr-jill-bolte-taylor-electrifying.html I've heard a lot of lectures in my life but never one like this. This is neuroanatomist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor giving a talk on the functional differences between the right and left hemispheres of the brain. She's passionate about her subject as she actually suffered a massive intracranial hemorrhage that trashed her left brain. Dr. Taylor brilliantly describes the experience and sensations both as a stroke victim and as a scientist.Not that I want to replicate her experience but man do I wish I could teach like her! Check it out and prepare to be riveted by the most amazing 20 minute talk you've ever heard.It makes me never want to step up to a podium again. (Source: California Medicine Man) California Medicine Man blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1336637 Sun, 30 Mar 2008 06:55:00 +0100 1336637 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1142260&cid=t_128597_90_f&fid=34499&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcalifmedicineman.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F01%2Foutsourcing-day-to-day-stressors-of.html Here's some insight regarding life on the other side of those monuments to outsourcing, Indian call centers. It seems that operators in India are succumbing to the stress of dealing with European and American ire:Miss Aggarwal, an English graduate, said she planned to quit, tired of wishing customers a good morning only to hear: "Oh, I'm through to India am I? Put me through to someone who can understand English, you f****** cow."Yikes. These people are apparently suffering from various medical problems real and imagined from this sort of work.I'm reminded of a patient I saw in my office many years ago, a young woman with a "positive review of systems" which is medicalese for having every complaint under the sun. After getting a detailed medical history and examining her thoroughly finding... California Medicine Man blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1142260 Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:06:00 +0100 1142260 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1064811&cid=t_128597_90_f&fid=34499&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcalifmedicineman.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F12%2Frecollections-from-old-blog-post.html (Source: California Medicine Man) California Medicine Man blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1064811 Mon, 03 Dec 2007 00:25:00 +0100 1064811 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=976279&cid=t_128597_94_f&fid=34697&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FnWIK%2F%7E3%2F174347749%2F25_skills_every_doctor_should.php As many ScienceBlogs readers know by now, last month Popular Mechanics published a list on their website of "25 Skills Every Man Should Know," which included such esoteric talents as "frame a wall" and "extend your wireless network." How these two made the list over such accomplishments as "find tickets to a Hannah Montana concert," or "pass gas anonymously on an airplane flight" is beyond me, but then again I'm a doctor, not a popular mechanic. Just for fun I'd like to share my version of this meme, so without further ado here is a list of 25 skills every doctor worth his or her salt should be able to do. The list is in no particular order and is my opinion only. Any omissions or refutations may be listed in the peanut gallery section of this post. Skills all doctors should possess: 1.... The Cheerful Oncologist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=976279 Wed, 24 Oct 2007 12:43:53 +0100 976279 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=868181&cid=t_128597_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2007%2F9%2F13%2Fcan-we-control-the-quality-of-our-deaths-do-advanced-directi.html by Pat Salber, MDMy day began and ended thinking about “end of life” care. I am involved in a project at work to facilitate better discussions about end of life options, such as hospice and advanced directives. So, this evening, perusing the Annals of Internal Medicine (July 3, 2007), my attention was captured by a provocatively titled article, “Controlling Death: The False Promise of Advance Directives.Although published in a peer-reviewed journal, this treatise is clearly an opinion piece. Nevertheless it is thought provoking. The author, Henry Perkins, MD, from the Division of General Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio uses a single case to make his points.What he writes about this case rang true to me. He describes Mr. Jones who h... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=868181 Thu, 13 Sep 2007 04:09:23 +0100 868181 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=778509&cid=t_128597_94_f&fid=34697&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceblogs.com%2Fthecheerfuloncologist%2F2007%2F08%2Ffootnotes_losing_a_patient_fro.php [Editor's note: now that The C.O. is back to work he is swamped by the duties of his day job, so he asked us if he could start a new post called "Footnotes," where he writes a quick comment about something on his mind. Of course we told him no - what does he think we're running here, a 6th grade field trip journal? Out of respect for the more delicate members of our reading audience we will refrain from printing his answer, but we can state with reasonable certainty that the penultimate member of his two word reply to us was "Up." Doctors can be somewhat recalcitrant, can't they? Anyway, here it is.] When I have patients that require more advanced or sophisticated treatment than I can deliver, or when they fail standard treatment, I like to refer them to the NCI-designated cancer center i... The Cheerful Oncologist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=778509 Sat, 04 Aug 2007 04:07:46 +0100 778509 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=752771&cid=t_128597_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2007%2F7%2F24%2Fwhat-medicine-can-learn-from-toyota-the-us-navy-and-jet-pilo.html By Dov Michaeli MD, Ph.D. I often wondered why it is that the practice of medicine is so error-prone. Hundreds (yes, hundreds) of patients die every year because of errors in administration of medications. Or, how about the cases from hell of the wrong leg amputated, the wrong breast removed, the wrong eye enucleated? Is it even imaginable that a car would be produced that has wheels of different sizes? The cliché that “if we can send a man to the moon, why can’t we … (fill in the blanks)” is actually thought-provoking. Sending a man to the moon entails a vast amount of detail, inordinately complex coordination of interacting systems and sub-systems, and concerns of safety at every step of the way. Yet, several well-known mishaps notwithstanding, NASA’... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=752771 Tue, 24 Jul 2007 06:38:38 +0100 752771 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=730369&cid=t_128597_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2007%2F7%2F12%2Fthe-value-of-presence.html By Margaret Cary, MD MBA MPHZhuo came with a self-assured attitude, lots of stories and several films under her belt.  I had volunteered to host a film director during the Denver International Film Festival. We liked each other immediately.  Zhuo’s story was unique to her but at the same time all too typical of family histories during the Cultural Revolution.  Her father had been taken away in the middle of the night and was eventually killed by Communist Party officials.  They told his wife of his death two years after his execution.Zhuo, her sisters and brother were sent to the country to work the fields.  Her mother was jailed in a basement cell with standing water.  Her life was spared because she spoke Russian, Spanish and English in addition to her... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=730369 Thu, 12 Jul 2007 22:57:02 +0100 730369 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=719793&cid=t_128597_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2007%2F7%2F7%2Fmy-friend-bob.html By Maggi Cary MD, MBA, MPHBob and Lara were my landlords, in their 60s, and lived across the nearly-two-lane road in the house they built over Adobe Canyon Creek in Sonoma County, California.I was Bob and Lara’s doctor—not in the come-to-my-office sense, but in the I’m-the-only-medical-person-in-the-family sense.  Bob developed a Dupuytren’s contracture, which is where a finger, or fingers, is drawn down toward the palm.  The connective tissue thickens and shortens, so moving the affected finger(s) is difficult.  The treatment is surgery and I recommended one of the top plastic surgeons in town.  Another friend did Bob’s anesthesia, blocking the nerves leading to the hand, much as dentists block nerves in your mouth, with Bob awake during t... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=719793 Sat, 07 Jul 2007 20:08:00 +0100 719793 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=650474&cid=t_128597_94_f&fid=34697&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceblogs.com%2Fthecheerfuloncologist%2F2007%2F06%2Fpost_88.php I have a question for any students in the audience today. Are you ready? Here it is: what is the most important part of the medical history? The medical history, by the way, is what physicians document when they meet a patient for the first time. The doctor asks a series of questions and the answers are shaped into a narrative that documents the details of the clinical situation in order to deduce what exactly is wrong with the patient and maybe even correct the problem. The medical history is recorded in this order: Chief Complaint History of Present Illness Allergies Medicines Past Medical History Family History Social History Review of Systems Following the completion of the medical history the physical examination is performed and tests are ordered. Then an assessment of the problem... The Cheerful Oncologist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=650474 Fri, 01 Jun 2007 18:52:11 +0100 650474 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=650475&cid=t_128597_94_f&fid=34697&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceblogs.com%2Fthecheerfuloncologist%2F2007%2F05%2Fpost_87.php What's more disturbing, a frustrated patient or a frustrated oncologist? I only bring this up because I had one of those days at work today where it seemed legions of smartly dressed nurses, secretaries, pharmacists and lab techs were conspiring to drive me insane with their bureaucratic edicts all designed to obstruct my plans to deliver proper medical care [Waaa! The poor widdle kid! -Ed.] Now in the comfort of my home I realize I have violated Rule Number Four of the House of God: "The patient is the one with the disease." As penance let me share my view on the top reasons why patients get frustrated - the heck with doctors. When patients get irked it is usually because they are not getting information, time, service, empathy or expertise. Here's what I mean: Information - this mean... The Cheerful Oncologist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=650475 Thu, 31 May 2007 03:33:41 +0100 650475