Trust is absolutely pivotal in the practice of medicine. Patients need to trust their physicians. Physicians need to trust other members of the medical community. The medical community needs to trust the medical literature and evidence-based guidelines. But what if much of day-to-day medicine is actually rooted in subtle lies, bias, faulty perceptions and misconceptions?
The Lies We Tell – Social Bias, Myths and Blindspots in Medicine is a brilliantly written piece by Dr. Charles Odonkor and a worthy read for any aspiring medical student or young physician. It is a call to first, be honest with yourself. It will be the next generation of physicians’ unique challenge to “reconcile the disharmony between stated ideals vs. the realities, which often arise in the imperfect science and art of medicine.”
Part 2 to the above series, here.
More to come on the topic of trust in medicine in the coming weeks.