DeGowin Quotable.

DeGowin's Diagnostic Examination seemed like a silly book to have, but I inherited it from one of my previous upper medical student benefactors. I had already read through Bates... what more could it offer?!?

Boy, was I wrong.

I bought the book for my Kindle and I have enjoyed reading it from time to time. It goes beyond talking about history taking and physical exam maneuvers to philosophy.

Here's my favorite quote:

DeGowin's Diagnostic Exam (Richard F. LeBlond, Donald D. Brown and Richard L. DeGowin)
- Highlight Loc. 898-901 | Added on Saturday, July 25, 2009, 11:17 PM

Disease is a four-dimensional story, which follows the biologic imperatives of its particular pathophysiology in specific anatomic sites as influenced by the unique characteristics of this patient. Your task is not verbal, but cinematic; construct a pathophysiologic and anatomic movie of the onset and progression of the illness: the words are generated from the images, not the images from the words. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Indeed, I remember my patient's problems better and I learn better when I visualize things instead of simply trying to MEMORIZE. It is tough to stay on task with it, but it is very effective during presentations -- when I've got things straight, the story comes out the right way.