article thumbnail

Race in Medicine

Sensible Medicine

Third, race seemed to be often used as a lazy and imprecise stand in for the social history, a stand in that was as likely to be wrong as it was to invite stereotyping. In the years that followed, I learned of efforts to remove racial identifiers from medical textbooks and test questions. We do this with BRCA testing.

article thumbnail

A (re)Visit to an Old-Fashioned Doctor

Sensible Medicine

Old-fashioned doctors spend whatever time it takes to obtain a good medical history and physical examination. The history and physical exam is not something to be fetishized but something to be recognized as a time saver. Old-fashioned doctors order tests to substantiate, not generate, their clinical impressions.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Friday Reflection 27: The Poor Historian

Sensible Medicine

.” Most everyone learns at some point the factoid that 80% of diagnoses come from the medical history. However, contrary to a standardized test on which the medical history is presented in a paragraph of clean prose, it requires skill to obtain a medical history.

article thumbnail

Hearing Aids are great, even if they don't save lives

Sensible Medicine

In this study, among 10,000 adults, nearly 2000 had completed hearing tests and had hearing loss. The effect held up even when the researchers accounted for differences such as age, ethnicity, education, and medical history. Such registries create huge databases. Roughly 13% of these adults regularly used hearing aids.

article thumbnail

Dr. Payam Toobian Discusses What to Expect at a Neurology Consultation

Scrubs

They will also ask the patient about symptoms and medical history. However, they will likely perform tests to confirm the diagnosis. They may take blood or urine tests to look for toxins, proteins, or infections. A qualified neurologist may understand the patient’s diagnosis from the above exam alone.

Tests 130
article thumbnail

Lake Washington Vascular Ransomware Attack Affects 21,500 Patients

The HIPAA Journal

Lake Washington Vascular was unable to determine exactly what information was viewed or extracted from its systems and said the information likely compromised included names, dates of birth, addresses, diagnostic test results, medical histories, diagnosis and treatment information, payer identification numbers, and government-issued identifiers.

Hospice 81
article thumbnail

A Brief Study on Diagnostic Reasoning 

We Care Online

The Importance of Diagnostic Reasoning in Medical Practice Effective diagnostic reasoning is the cornerstone of medical practice. Poor diagnostic reasoning can lead to misdiagnosis, unnecessary tests, inappropriate treatments, and, in some cases, serious harm to patients.