Highlights uses and limitations of algorithmic and evidence-based medicine in medical decision-making
Trade Review
“The encouragement of all readers to rethink everything we assume to be true and to seek a deeper understanding of what we “know” is priceless . . . The quotes included throughout the book were both valuable and enjoyable.” (The Hospitalist, 2 November 2014)
Table of Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
INTRODUCTION: SURVIVING AND THRIVING IN WARD WORLD 1
PART 1 MEDICAL MUSTS AND MUST-NOTS: SIX ESSENTIALS OF WARD WORLD
1 HOW (NOT) TO PRESENT A PATIENT HISTORY 13
2 REEXAMINING THE PHYSICAL EXAM 37
3 HOW (NOT) TO ORDER AND PRESENT LAB TESTS 67
4 SEEING IS (ALMOST) BELIEVING: THE IMPORTANCE OF REVIEWING DATA 81
5 "WORSTS FIRST": HOW TO FRAME A DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS 93
6 CLINICAL QUERIES: ASKING THE 3½ KEY QUESTIONS 103
PART 2 MEDICAL MASTERIES
7 E = MC3: ERROR REDUCTION EQUALS MOTIVATION TIMES COMMUNICATION TO THE POWER OF 3 115
8 EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE: WHAT AND WHERE IS THE EVIDENCE? 131
9 CAUTION! DANGEROUS BIOMEDICAL SEMANTICS AT WORK 145
10 SOME SECOND OPINIONS: OUTLIERS, HOOFBEATS, AND SUTTON’S (FLAWED) LAW 165
11 A SIXFOLD PATH: FROM DATA TO KNOWLEDGE TO UNDERSTANDING 173
12 WHAT IS DISEASE? WHAT IS HEALTH? 181
Bibliography and Notes 195
Index 203