Patients Experience Vs Doctors Experience: Which should we read and write about?
You probable came across Dr. Jill Bolte Taylo’sr story. She is the neuroscientist that had left sided hemorrhagic stroke. She describes her sensations and feelings from within the stoke. She describes her experience in details in her book: ‘My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey.’
The point I would like to pose: should family physicians and clinicians in general read books the describe in details patients experiences. Medical books are written by the experts. This would describe their respective of what is happen. This is not totally bad, as in many cases leads to reaching a diagnosis and curing serious diseases. But, with the dominance of chronic disease as diabetes, should we as clinicians immerse ourselves in our patients experiences.
The neuroscientist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor did not choose to have the stroke. But, here experience shed like to a side of medicine that we should focus on if we wanted to deliver quality healthcare.
I think that doctors posting their personal experiences as patients is a great idea. My best lessons of how to be a better doctor are when I myself am the patient. That’s when I most appreciate the art of medicine. My site is a collection of stories and experiences from medical students at UCSF. I think I will add on to this the students’ personal experiences as patients. That’s for the insight. http://ucsfstudents.wordpress.com
http://ucsfstudents.googlepages.com