[Medical Information] About the Practice of Medicine

[Medical Information] About the Practice of Medicine

 

  Harrison is a typical textbook about internal medicine. I'd like to review or summary medical information through Harrison or other articles.

 

Practice of medicine

  Several clinical guidelines are based on statistical data. But when approaching diseases and treatments, we should have deductive reasoning because medicine is also a kind of science. Though a lot of technology has developed, physician's role does not shrink. Never. As a physician meets a patient, he should determine what he does next step by seeing and listening patient's symptom, history, and so on. Physician should find a clinical clue to go next.

 

  To do that, physician should have clinical skills and those are as follows: History taking, Physical examination, Diagnostic studies.

 

  History taking is subjective experience about patient's illness. It could be trivial or irrelevant but patient's narrative may provide a key to approaching medical answer. Also by talking each other, it is a good opportunity to make a physician-patient relationship. When there is a good relationship, patient feels trust to physician, and physician gets more information to patient and good compliance.

 

  Physical examination is to do for checking physical signs of disease. When a physician checks it, he or she should consider patient's comfort and feelings. Physical examination is acted, so far as time permits, from head to toe not to miss a important sign.

 

  After a physician suggests a certain diagnosis, he or she does diagnostic studies to get a definite diagnosis. Especially nowadays, physicians rely on laboratory findings and imaging test more and more. Adequate tests shorten time to get a final diagnosis.