Mea sententia

Shortly after 3:00 I was sitting and listening to Chloe’s precise clinical description.

A disappointing John Tierney article about decision fatigue in the New York Times magazine section is just the most recent in a collection of equally disappointing discussions of an issue that is both widespread and important.

Meetings are an excellent tool for top-down hierarchies to manage and control information and decision making, but are inherently inimical to broad participation or collaborative processes.  Here are eight specific ways in which meetings, when used alone,  represent a barrier to collaboration rather than a collaborative tool…

He walked in without an appointment and asked the receptionist for a ‘subscription for penicillin.’ Judy buzzed me, saying in the special quiet tone she used for urgent matters, that I needed to come to the desk - now. He was an impressive sight, big enough to have to stoop to talk to Judy through the window and wide enough to completely block the view of the waiting room behind him.

Those who say it cannot be done…

This sentiment, recently posted by Anonymous on Kevin.com got me thinking:

“Every time I hear the word idiopathic my heart sinks, my eyes fill with tears, and I’m instantly exhausted.  Idiopathic means your doctor gives up.  They give up on a cause.  They give up on a treatment.  They give up on you.”

It was our first Fall in Maine...

It was the week before final exams at the end of my first year in medical school when the pain in my back lower left molar finally reached a point where it could no longer be ignored. And I had ignored my teeth for some time.

Four years ago this month, my family practice elected to join a local hospital owned and managed outpatient medical group. It has not gone as planned.

The language of medicine is highly evolved and complex and allows clear, detailed, specific and unambiguous descriptions. Except when it’s not.