Clinician Tip o' the Month - November 2024

This month's tip comes in the form of a quote from an inspiring text written by a cardiologist and Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Dr. Bernard Lown. I hope you enjoy it. 

“A doctor establishes credentials as a caring practitioner during the very first visit by listening attentively. This, requiring engagement of all sensibilities, is the most powerful diagnostic device in the doctor's armamentarium. In fact, a doctor who takes a careful history reaches a correct diagnosis in 70% of cases. This is far more efficient than all the currently available tests and technologies. The reason is straightforward: the majority of complaints that patients present to doctors, even though focused on one or another organ, are functional, generally arising from the rough and tumble of living. Frequently stemming from an aching heart that is impervious to any modern instrument, they are not hidden from an ear cultivated to listen for the inaudible sigh, nor are they concealed from an eye sensitive to the unshed tear.”

The Lost Art of Healing. Practicing Compassion in Medicine. Bernard Lown, MD. The Ballantine Publishing Group, February 1999