Dr Abraham Varghese

In an earlier post I had mentioned that I was reading book by Dr. Abraham Varghese titles “cutting for Stones” that was very interesting. In it, Dr. Varghese decries the vanishing “physical exam” and the overt dependence on numerous lab tests for dianoses. It’s as if doctors are reluctant to physically touch patients anymore. It should be noted that Dr. Varghese got his medical tarining in Ethiopia and India before he came to do his residency in the US. He was trained in an environment where there was no fear of lawsuits and it’s easy to imagine that in such an environment, one can really hone their skills in diagnosing patients using mostly physical exams. Dr. Varghese is now the chairman of a dept in the medical school at Stanford and according to his book, he has some interesting grand rounds with his medical students on rotations. He really puts them through the ringer in front of patients but also guides them to think critically. If any of you are interested, try his book. I really liked it.
Here is the link to this book on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Cutting-Stone-novel-Abraham-Verghese/dp/0375414495