Dr. Shashank Vyankatesh Parulekar
2018
The process of learning of a doctor is quite complex. The formal training involves a series of courses in theory and practicals of different subjects. The next phase of learning medical sciences is the phase of medical practice. A doctor sees patients and treats them After an extensive experience, his master computer, i.e. the brain gets programmed well. Once this stage is reached one can make an accurate diagnosis and decide the course of action without seeming to make a conscious effort at it. Of course the process is not automatic. It is a reflex which involves a series of steps, ruling out different conditions at each, and finally deciding the diagnosis and the form of treatment. A number of unimportant steps described in standard teaching are not followed because they do not seem to make any difference in that situation. This is an algorithm or a flow-chart. A successful clinician has all the flow charts in his mind, and he uses them as needed, based on his patient's symptoms or needs. This book has flow-charts developed with a view of shortening the personal-experience-phase of a doctor's learning. These flowcharts are problem-based. The flow-charts are printed the way the sequence of thoughts should be. The problem is outlined at the top. The clinical test or investigation to be done in assessment at any step is printed in italics The results of the tests are printed in ordinary type. The diagnoses are put in boxes The treatment is printed in ordinary type. Explanations are given in the text opposite capital letters printed in the flow-charts.
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