Modern Gadgets and Ancient Medicine

I thought it would be appropriate to talk about technology in this first blog. Here I am practicing what is a 2,000+ year old medicine yet I believe that some modern technology is responsible for making me a better physician. Some of it is obvious – like the internet, of course. How did anyone live without it? What about something much, much smaller? Take for instance a pocket-sized keyboard, which opens up to laptop size, and allows you to type notes straight to your smart mobile phone – no laptop or outlet required. If you’re wondering how this gadget can possibly contribute to a better treatment for my patients, consider the following.

Each medical professional, myself included, relies on and is required to complete continuing education classes in their field. It is in these seminars that we learn from some of the best people in our respective fields. For me, it’s following the work of Kiiko Matsumoto by attending weekend seminars. Each seminar is about two days long and usually held in a classroom or a conference room.

The information we learn in these classes is advanced and cutting edge. The rooms we are in are not. On average the class size is anywhere from 25-100 people while the number of electrical outlet plugs is 2! Now imagine 25 people trying to use the same plug to keep their computer alive for 8 hours, two days in a row. Knowing this situation, most will opt for the old fashion pen and paper. But in my experience the notes you take the old fashion way often end up collecting dust somewhere in a box. Mine were always illegible, messy, and incomplete.

With the help of this relatively inexpensive gadget you can type on a full size keyboard that operates on a couple of AAA batteries. The battery life of BlackBerry or Palm far exceeds that of my laptop so I can sit anywhere in the classroom, type quickly, almost to a point of transcribing, and then with a quick sync to my own computer, have the notes available to me with a click of a mouse.

When researching patient cases I can find treatment ideas with a simple click of “Ctrl F” and immediately have access to several weekend lectures at once. No paper cuts. Having done this for several years now, I continue to be constantly amazed at treatment ideas that are in my notes that I simply did not remember from class.

So, as this weekend and Kiiko Matsumoto’s latest class approaches, I’m packing fresh AAA batteries and my little techno gadget and looking forward to learning about the ancient medicine that, with a little help from technology, will make my patients feel much better.