“Curiosity – it’s not just for the scientists. It’s not just for the philosophers. It’s what drives the best clinicians in every emergency department and, frankly, in all of medicine.” ~ Christopher Ford, M.D.
How does an emergency department doctor manage the chaotic swirl of unknowns that show up at their door every day? What are they to make of the needs that emerge from the complex socioeconomic soup in which we all swim?
Is curiosity a tool of choice?
And are there lessons the rest of us might learn from an ER doc’s hard-won experience?
Milwaukee ER doctor Chris Ford replies with a resounding “Yes!”
We talk about curiosity as health advocacy, patients as the quarterback of the ER team, why all those redundant questions have value in the process, exploration versus exploitation, curiosity as an antidote to burnout, getting curious about the systemic issues that undergird health disparities and curiosity as a civic duty, medical and scientific standards for evaluating the merits of research, listening first and looking for what isn’t being said, asking about next steps — and why “the more information, the better” is so very, very important.
Curiosity saves lives. It builds trust between the physician and the patient. It invites patients into the process. It reminds us to ask why our communities are hurting in the first place.
Listen to #312: Curiosity in Emergency Medicine, with Dr. Chris Ford
Dr. Chris Ford is an ER physician in Milwaukee and an advocate for public health and social justice. Check out his podcast Pulse Check Wisconsin.
Want to know more about doctors who devote themselves to “patients over profits”? The Committee to Protect Health Care mobilizes doctors & health care advocates to pass pro-patient policies and elect health care champions nationwide.
This is a nice tribute to Dr. William Eberhart I mentioned in my introduction. It celebrates the entomologist’s commitment to stimulating his students’ curiosity. He encourages the notion that “ideas should submit to the data, not vice versa.” He teaches that “asking good questions is better than giving straight answers.” And, he doesn’t impart dogma, but questions it.
Want to think more about curiosity in medicine? Check out these C2BC Classics: Curiosity, Big Data & the Flu, with Naren Ramakrishnan; Curiosity & Ethics Consultation, with Dr. Ellen Fox; COVID & the Consequences of Incuriosity, with Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding; Curiosity & Health Advocacy, with Dr. Nicole Rochester; and a second visit with Dr. Rochester: Wait, What? Revisiting Curiosity, Race & Health Care.
Theme music by Sean Balick. ”Cases to Rest” by Bodytonic, via Blue Dot Sessions.
You can subscribe to Choose to Be Curious on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
