My reflections on learning medicine...

[SERENITY NOW]

(Just wanted to share a quick realization, albeit a bit philosophical, that I came upon today and found somewhat interesting)

 

YOU HAVE TO KNOW IT "BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS"

 

We have all heard this cliché countless times but I have found that it is incredibly applicable to medicine.  As we go through school, our material is always presented from a given "perspective".  For example, while learning the complete physical exam, we learn from the perspective of what are the different steps of the PE and what are we looking for at each step?  However, in other classes we learn about the PE from a different perspective: what PE findings might we find from disease X?  Both perspectives take different approaches at understanding the physical exam and its uses.

 

This phenomenom can be seen in almost every other aspect of medicine...

 

Pharmacology:  We have to know which medication is the best choice for a given disease (Disease X --> Drug Y + other meds).  We also have to learn about the various properties of a medication in the context of its drug family and the different diseases it is able to treat (Drug Y -->  Disease X and others).

 

Diseases: We have to know the various signs/symptoms to expect from a given disease  (Disease X--> Symptom Y and others), and what diseases to work up from a given symptom (Symptom Y --> Disease X and others in ddx).

 

We are always learning an aspect of medicine from a forwards or backwards perspective, and both individually are very important.  However, we can't come close to having a full understanding of medicine if we only learn one without the other.  We must learn it forwards and backwards.  In this combination, our understanding is so much deeper.  Using the example above: learning which antibiotic to choose for infection X is obviously important.  But if you can combine that knowledge with a solid understanding of that class of abx, its unique properties, coverage, side effects, etc, you will understand the why behind the decision to choose that antibiotic in the first place.  This, in my opinion, is true understanding of medicine.  

 

Any thoughts?  Has anybody else had any "philosophical" realizations while in school? 

[LT_Oneal_PAC]

Realization from a wise doc I know: you can't know it all, that's why they make books.

[LT_Oneal_PAC]

I totally get what you're saying though. Understanding why is important. If you don't, then you can't know what you don't know.