Rahul Parikh in Nautilus:
Uncertainty is something we hide from in medicine. As doctors, we exist to make things certain for our patients. We call it a diagnosis. We hone our skills and carry a toolbox of tests to provide it. And then we prescribe drugs to treat it. When we meet uncertainty we cannot overcome, we get ill at ease. We grapple with uncertainty like a psychic beast in our minds and often hide it from our patients and colleagues. We know our patients are often torn with uncertainty about symptoms and what to do about them, but we’re not very good at talking to them about uncertainty. Medical school teaches us to put on a confident face. It doesn’t cover how to treat the symptoms of doubt.
Emily Silverman, creator and host of the medical podcast The Nocturnists, has been thinking deeply about uncertainty. Silverman is an internal medicine doctor and an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Earlier this year, The Nocturnists launched a 13-part series, “Uncertainty in Medicine,” featuring stories from frontline doctors, medical students, patients, and a broad array of others, to bring the topic of uncertainty into the open.
More here.
Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.