Wednesday, July 27, 2011

How Doctors Think

I ran across this book on the Fairfax County Library Audiobook site. Not only has it provided an interesting perspective on how human medical doctors think through cases, but it has provided plenty of material for self-examination. There are many cognitive errors that can compromise a diagnosis, from being satisfied with the first answer we have evidence for (search satisfaction) to letting our relationship with a client unduly affect our recommendations (affective error). Dr Groopman illustrates these with real life examples and follows up with questions that you can ask your doctor when you think something might be being overlooked, such as "What else could be causing these symptoms?" A worth while read for anyone who might have to navigate through the human (or veterinary) medical landscape, and that means most of us.