tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402894.post4779756308745627487..comments2024-03-29T09:41:31.829-04:00Comments on PocoBrat: Surgeon Hangmanmaya http://www.blogger.com/profile/11164383180083433329noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402894.post-82737080741788037172007-07-29T08:29:00.000-04:002007-07-29T08:29:00.000-04:00It's been a while and I may be wrong, but I do bel...It's been a while and I may be wrong, but I do believe I wrote the anonymous comment above, embarrasing typos and all. :-) <BR/><BR/>Yeah, that was indeed the point: I seem to remember checking the photograph in the Times after reading your entry, and confirming that the good doctor had indeed not been scribbling away on the patient himself (i.e., on his skin) but rather on the drapes. <BR/><BR/>Interesting how that seems to make a difference to us! I'm an MD, too (trained where Gawande did, actually, although I don't know him), and this seems an instance of doctors forgetting how quirky our "world" sometimes really is. There is a certain culture in the OR that all medical folk gradually imbibe during their years training - what you can touch and can't, what you can do and can't, etc. Drawing a Hangman on a patient's skin would be very inappropriate; scribling on the surgical drapes (not viewed as "belonging" to the patient, but rather a temporary cover in the OR that helps define and protect the sterile field) conversely is usually viewed as quite innocuous. I haven't noticed that this is a particularly American surgical tendency - we're just as nutty elsewhere. :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402894.post-30524576071326278382007-04-29T08:30:00.000-04:002007-04-29T08:30:00.000-04:00Anon, Check out the picture gallery--the patient i...Anon, <BR/><BR/>Check out the picture gallery--the patient is covered with surgical drapes and Gawande and crew are indeed drawing *on* her/him. Perhaps your point is that they aren’t drawing on the skin of the patient? <BR/><BR/>But we quibble. And i suspect that this is standard surgeon’s arrogance/garden variety American insensitivity/some combination or variation of the above, and that it is my fault for being overly sensitive and fastidious.<BR/><BR/>But I do know that when I take student papers and portfolios home to correct, I write comments/directions where relevant but I would never irrelevantly (irreverently) doodle on something fundamentally not mine. <BR/><BR/>Longevity,<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the link.mayahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15794350436930716096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402894.post-17234082690675321802007-04-28T22:41:00.000-04:002007-04-28T22:41:00.000-04:00Thank you for your interesting post!I thought perh...Thank you for your interesting post!<BR/>I thought perhaps you may find this related post about new article by Atul Gawande interesting to you:<BR/><A HREF="http://longevity-science.blogspot.com/2007/04/way-we-age.html" REL="nofollow">Longevity Science: The Way We Age</A><BR/><A HREF="http://longevity-science.blogspot.com/2007/04/way-we-age.html" REL="nofollow">http://longevity-science.blogspot.com/2007/04/way-we-age.html</A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402894.post-76315725946485166092007-04-18T13:20:00.000-04:002007-04-18T13:20:00.000-04:00it wasn't on tne patient, it was on the a surgical...it wasn't on tne patient, it was on the a surgical drape.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402894.post-11876109403556832282007-04-12T18:51:00.000-04:002007-04-12T18:51:00.000-04:00Thanks, JOAT :*)Big A says that dehumanizing the p...Thanks, JOAT :*)<BR/><BR/>Big A says that dehumanizing the patient could well be a "coping mechanism" for those working in the medical industry; i say, "hmmff."mayahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15794350436930716096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28402894.post-18689814710482480502007-04-11T10:34:00.000-04:002007-04-11T10:34:00.000-04:00Welcome back. I missed you :-) I thought the whole...Welcome back. I missed you :-) I thought the whole game thing was weird and not sure if it was real or the author was trying to be funny or if Gawande thought it was funny but it was definitely WEIRD!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com