Medical Knowledge: The Foundation of Patient Care

Chapter 2 Medical Knowledge: The Foundation of Patient Care



Sandra Fine, MBA, Thomas G. McCarter, MD


The six ACGME competencies, which serve as the organizing principle of this book, all inter-relate; each category focuses directly on the same ultimate goal: good patient care. As should already be clear to any medical student with even a modicum of clinical experience, the cornerstone of quality patient care is the acquisition of medical knowledge.


Acquiring medical knowledge is an odyssey that will propel you in many directions. Each step of the journey challenges you to assimilate new information, learn new skills, and master new techniques. Understand that this odyssey has two unique characteristics: it is ever-changing and never-ending.


Never before have learners been challenged by such a vast flood of information. In the early 1990s, medical knowledge was thought to double in size approximately every 10 years. For the future, it is likely to double every 2 to 5 years. Every physician will need to design a method to manage the traffic of the information highway or opt for professional obsolescence. It is imperative, therefore, for you the student to understand how you learn best and to develop proper habits that will serve you during clerkship and residency, and, as a lifelong learner, during your years of medical practice.


As this textbook will demonstrate, clinical constructs change and accepted paradigms evolve, the field of laparoscopy providing an excellent example. Minimally invasive surgery was hardly a concept when many of this book’s contributors were in surgical residency. Such evolution suggests that the ability to ask the good question may be more relevant to the mastery of medical knowledge than knowing the right answer. Good questions rarely change; “right answers” change frequently. Enjoy the never-ending and ever-changing journey on which you embark. Use this text to acquire medical knowledge, to polish your thought processes, and to gain further insight into patient care.


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Mar 20, 2017 | Posted by in GENERAL SURGERY | Comments Off on Medical Knowledge: The Foundation of Patient Care

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