Opus Nuclei's Garden

Powered by 🌱Roam Garden

Atul Gawande

Referenced in

Dr. Informative vs. Dr. Knows-Best

Last week, I completed my note about Cerebellopontine Angle (CPA) Tumor where I read a fascinating treatment option: observation. Since 85% of CPA tumors are benign, observation became an option. Doing nothing but watch it slowly grows. From a palliative perspective, this makes sense. In fact, it relates to what Atul Gawande observed about what does it mean to be either Dr. Informative or Dr. Knows-Best (Paternalistic model).

November 11th, 2020

I couldn't agree more with what Atul Gawande said about work as a doctor. Our identity is closely tied to our competence, not the work itself. When we are incompetent, we are close to being worthless. Training, retraining, relearning, all those words in the lifelong learning box seeping into our daily lives. I have seen good-willed doctors became stingy and hammered down by the battles that were lost.

Atul Gawande