Tales From the Office: Florida Fishing Tackle
While just starting practice, I was very excited when I was called to the nursing homes to see patients.
Here in Florida I often had many patients to see and had to be prepared. I drove to one of my homes. Slowly curving around a small lake populated by ducks and a pair of shiny white swans. I always enjoyed a chance to catch even a part of nature after being inside most of the day. I enjoyed fis …
While just starting practice, I was very excited when I was called to the nursing homes to see patients.
Here in Florida I often had many patients to see and had to be prepared. I drove to one of my homes. Slowly curving around a small lake populated by ducks and a pair of shiny white swans. I always enjoyed a chance to catch even a part of nature after being inside most of the day. I enjoyed fis … Continue reading "Tales From the Office: Florida Fishing Tackle"
The patient presented for a rash "down there". She was in her 60's and I asked her to lie on her back to examine her front side. After careful examination, I asked her to flip over on the table to exam the back side of her.
I had to pull apart her buttocks to get a better look at her anal mucosa as her chief complaint was pruritis.
As I approached her rear end the patient let out some gas. Some … 
I had a patient who was a 34 y/o male and presented with a periungual wart on his left index finger.
We tried many different modalities to destroy the wart but were unsuccessful. At the time a med school classmate who was a colo-rectal surgeon had started treating warts with a CO2 laser. I asked my pt to go see the colo-rectal surgeon for a consult to see if laser would help. He went for the appo … 
BENJAMIN BARANKIN, MD, FRCPC, FAAD discusses the importance and impact of appropriate patient touch.
What We're Taught
Our teachers warn us not to touch the patient throughout medical school, residency, and clinical practice. Medical societies regularly remind us of the importance of not touching our patients. That is, at least inappropriately.
"While telling the patient it was not con … 
Part 2 of 2
Last month in the first part of this article, I discussed aspects I have found helpful to optimize patient encounters at the start of their visit, starting from the moment I enter the room.
Next is the physical examination component of the patient visit. You may wonder how communication plays a vital role in the physical exam portion of the visit. Before touching the pati … 