How Doctors Learn (and a Request for Help)

I'm in the middle of writing a chapter on "How Doctors Learn." Seems a straightforward topic, right? Sit down and listen to lectures, flip through journals, examine and treat patients, and look up anything you don't know. Of course, the process of learning medicine is worlds more complex than that, but it's not something we usually spend time thinking about. So to help make sense of it all, I fired up my well-worn copy of MindManager and constructed the following mind map. (Click for larger version in new window.)



I'm betting half of you will say I've made a simple process, complicated — and the other half will say I've made something complicated, simple. But please: tell me either way. Do you disagree with the way I've divided learning — self-directed, directed, and undirected? Is there a major learning technique or resource I've missed? (Other than, you know, "mind mapping.")

Please note this is version 1.0 of this diagram, and I welcome your comments.

New Google Health Features

Via the Google Blog:

"Share this profile":

Log into Google Health, click on "Share this Profile," and type in the email address of the person with whom you'd like to share your profile. Google Health will send an email to them with a link to view your profile.

"New printing feature":

For doctors and family members who are not yet online, we've also made it easier to share a hard copy of your information via our new printing feature. The wallet format prints a wallet-sized card that includes a user's medications, and allergies; the PDF format prints a letter-sized copy of a user's profile, including medications, allergies, conditions, and treatments.

"New graphing feature":

Finally, we've launched a new graphing feature that helps patients visualize their medical test information. This is great for, say, someone who has high cholesterol. They can use Google Health to enter their lab results on a monthly basis and see the trend over time.

Related articles:

• Google Health: helping you better coordinate your care
• Google Health Now Lets You Share Your Medical History With Loved Ones
• Google Health sharing--simple but potentially important

How a Medical Student Uses Evernote as a Peripheral Brain

Gone are the overstuffed file cabinets full of essential papers that you never look at.

I've previously written about Evernote here.