Mea sententia...

Impressing the date

Submitted by PeterElias on Mon, 03/27/2017 - 06:00

My daughter and I were standing on line in an upscale cross-country ski lodge near Sun Valley.  The man in front of us ordered for himself and then his somewhat younger and obviously starstruck female companion. Their order consisted of two hamburgers, two coffees, and two large chocolate-chip cookies, and their bill came to about $30. He handed the guy behind the counter a $100 bill and said, just a bit louder than necessary, “Keep the change.”

Behind the curtain...

Submitted by PeterElias on Mon, 03/20/2017 - 06:00

As I watched my 17 month old granddaughter decode the world, it was impossible not to marvel at the enormity of the task and wonder what was going on behind that so expressive face as she processes the flood of sights, sounds, feelings, tastes, experiences, and consequences. Some predictable, but many not.

 

Reflections on retirement

Submitted by PeterElias on Mon, 03/13/2017 - 06:00

Since I retired, I have repeatedly been asked two questions. “How do you like retirement?” and “Don’t you miss practicing medicine?”

Building boats and EHRs

Submitted by PeterElias on Mon, 03/06/2017 - 06:00

Imagine that you want a boat. You tell someone to build or buy you a boat, and tell them to send you a bill. What would you get? A kayak? A windsurfer? A boat for waterskiing? A sailboat. A party boat? A cruise ship? A submarine? A battleship or destroyer? You probably would not get what you want. Very likely you would end up with something expensive - that you cannot use.

Before you build or buy a boat, you need a defined goal and a process:

Intolerance at the hairdresser

Submitted by PeterElias on Mon, 02/27/2017 - 00:06

This week, waiting at a local hairdresser for my appointment, I had an unnerving experience.

Two women came in together and sat down. They were talking enthusiastically about the previous night’s State of the State address by Governor Lepage, pleased with how well he spoke and looking forward to some of his promises. At one point, one of the women said: “It’s too bad they won’t let him do what he wants. If they did, he’d get rid of all those Somalis.”

Retirement is like playing Tetris

Submitted by PeterElias on Mon, 02/20/2017 - 00:05

After four decades in medicine, I retired from the active practice of primary care 15 months ago.  I still get asked at least once a day: “Well, how’s retirement treating you?” My usual reply is that it is a learning process. A more accurate response would be that it is like playing Tetris, but with pieces that change shape and rotate unpredictably as they fall.

(For those not of a certain age, here is Tetris:

On the road to shared office visits

Submitted by PeterElias on Sun, 02/19/2017 - 22:38

This is a repost of something I wrote in 2012 about how I discovered that doing collaborative officie visit notes with patients transformed the process for both the patient and myself.

 

Nearly a year ago I embarked on an adventure that has been changing how I practice medicine. It is also changing how medicine feels. 

Memo to my successor

Submitted by PeterElias on Fri, 01/01/2016 - 06:00

You are about to have the honor and great pleasure of working with a group of patients I have come to know and respect over the years. While I cannot tell you how to practice medicine, I feel no reluctance to tell you what made it so worthwhile for me.  

Retirement message to my colleagues

Submitted by PeterElias on Thu, 12/31/2015 - 06:00

Here is the letter I sent my colleagues upon my retirement from active practice in December 2015.

Humility and medical guidelines

Submitted by PeterElias on Wed, 04/22/2015 - 06:00

We have LOTS of guidelines and recommendations. We could use LOTS more humility.

The Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) issued a recommendation in September of 2014 that pneumococcal vaccine naive individuals 65 and over get a Prevnar13 followed by a Pneumovax 6-12 months later, and that those who have had a Pneumovax get a Prevnar13 a minimum of 12 months after their Pneumovax.

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