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Insomnia snark

It was about 2:30 am when the phone rang, waking me from the deepest and best part of sleep. It was the answering service, and they patched my patient through.  

Me: (Still groggy, trying to wake up.) “Dr Elias here, on call for Family Health. What’s the problem and how can I help?”

Female voice: “I can’t sleep.”

pause…

On listening to the patient

Osler, often referred to as the Father of Modern Medicine famously said: "If you listen carefully to the patient, they will tell you the diagnosis.” He emphasized both the value of a careful history in medical diagnosis and the value of learning from one’s patients. Ask any practicing clinician and they will have anecdotes that illustrate how right he was. One stands out for me.

A note to disruptive docs everywhere

In 2004, Dr. Lawrence Huntoon wrote an editorial (in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons Volume 9 Number 3 Fall 2004) expressing concern about the potential abuse of ‘disruptive physician’ clauses being added to many medical staff Bylaws. Below the fold is my updated version of the poem (Memo to the Disruptive Physician) included in his editorial.

 

Memo to the Disruptive Physician