Short monologue by Aaron Hartman, MD, arguing that many clinicians have lost curiosity, which harms patients (e.g., being told conditions are "incurable" or "in your head"). He emphasizes continual learning in medical practice, citing decades of experience and encouragement that answers exist and patients should pursue health to reclaim their lives.
Chapters
When I hear incurable, I hear we haven't tried hard enough. Just think about that for a second. How long have you heard something like, we can't help you. There's nothing wrong with you. It's all in your head. I see patients from across the country have been told this exact same thing. What we found out is that those people just have lost their inquisitiveness. And it blows my mind. After all the years of training, three board certifications, 11 years of undergraduate medical school, how can you lose your curiosity? But this is one of the things that's important in the practice of medicine. What is the practice of medicine? It's practicing. After 25 years of being a physician, seeing patients, I'm still practicing. And what I can tell you is every month, every week, every journal article, every textbook I read, I find new answers. There are answers out there. You might not have found them yet, but trust me, they're out there. There's an interesting saying I like to quote to patients. A person who has their health has a thousand dreams. But he who does not have his health has but one dream. Find your dream, find your health, and everything else will take care of itself.