EMRs are robbing physicians of their writing skills

Many physicians have become world famous writers, and in Greek mythology, Apollo was the god of both poetry and medicine. I can personally think of many prominent physician writers I have come across in my reading over the years: There was the 12th-century rabbi Maimonides, Copernicus in the 15th century and the poet John Keats in the 1700s. In the late 1800s to early 1900s, there were Anton Chekhov, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and William Somerset Maugham. Examples from our time (or at least mine) are A.J. Cronin (Dr. Finlay) Robin Cook (Coma), Viktor Frankl (Man’s Search for Meaning), Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park), the Polish science fiction writer Stanislav Lem, M. Scott Peck (The Road Less Traveled), Oliver Sacks, Frank Slaughter, Sherwin Nuland, Walker Percy and more recently, Mainer Tess Gerritsen. But you wouldn’t think doctoring and literature are even remotely connected after reading what my colleagues and I are producing every day in our electronic medical records. Continue reading ... Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how.
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Physician Health IT Primary Care Source Type: blogs