Mea sententia

It happens at least once a week: a patient who equates natural with beneficial. 

Rudiger Dorbusch, a German economist who spent much of his career at MIT, famously said:

“Things always take longer to happen than you expect – but once they happen, events unfold more quickly than you’d ever have imagined.”

A wonderful thing, imagination, with the vast possibilities it allows. 

Nana Cindy, Bumpa Pooh and (Princess) Phoebe were enjoying a wonderful pretend picnic in her bedroom. Phoebe was describing in sometimes startling detail the preparations for the picnic when she started pantomiming, pouring a liquid on her hands, rubbing her palms together, and then applying it to her doll. We asked if she was using sunscreen, and she paused and looked thoughtful while she considered the question.

“No,” she said. “Moonscreen.”

Two weeks into my third year psychiatry clerkship at the University of Rochester, I was summoned to the Dean’s Office to meet with Dr. Orbison.

“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”

(George Orwell)

Overheard this week at a conference: “Progress doesn’t come because you work hard to sell your creative new ideas. It comes when the old farts die off.”

This explains a great deal.

One of the characteristics of a long medical career is the kaleidoscope of educational experiences one draws upon. This afternoon a three year old boy and his father benefitted from one of my early lessons, courtesy of Mary Mahotka, an x-ray tech in the Verona Family Practice Residency Clinic. 

There is a push afoot to use evidence based medicine (EBM) to generate standards of care and then use pay-for-performance  (P4P) to Nudge people towards better behavior.

Problems worthy

of attack

Prove their worth

by hitting back. 

(Piet Hein)

Worry is like a rocking chair…it gives you something to do, but doesn’t get you anywhere!

(anonymous)