The Messiness Of Learning

A rarely talked about truth is how the act of learning is really messy.   Whenever I learn a new skill I always go back to how I learned to play the guitar.  Probably because this was the first skill I truly learned by myself; no books, no teachers.  Just listening to loads of music and doodling… Continue reading The Messiness Of Learning

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Divided Knowledge

Super specialisation in the last few decades has become commonplace. In the hospital we now have surgeons who can only operate on hands for example. Other doctors often joke that some of these surgeons only operate on the left hand and not the right. But even the doctors who don't consider themselves super-specialised are nowadays.… Continue reading Divided Knowledge

Specifically Not Obvious

How do you figure out what advice to listen to? Most of the advice that you come across from books, courses, teachers, articles etc is very general. You know the type of advice intuitively as you've already heard the answers a million times. For example, I recently came across an article where the interviewer was… Continue reading Specifically Not Obvious

What It’s Like To Start A Business

I received a letter from a fellow healthcare worker the other day. She wrote to me regarding a patient of mine, demanding that I "do something".  Her letter was, to be quite honest, rude and uncalled for.  She knew very well that I had already seen the patient, assessed the patient correctly and that the… Continue reading What It’s Like To Start A Business

I Can Guarantee Something That Will Never Ever Change And It’s Where To Find All The Opportunities.

There's an old business story about a cookie factory owner. His company was making millions of cookies and was very profitable.  However, his board was always asking for more profits. One day the cookie factory owner thought of a great idea!  "What if we got rid of 1 of the 13 spices we put in… Continue reading I Can Guarantee Something That Will Never Ever Change And It’s Where To Find All The Opportunities.

Don’t Say That!

"I stink, therefore I tram." I spent some time living in Prague, Czech Republic.  The summers would get really hot and I couldn't help but notice that the Czechs had a strange aversion to deodorants.  This would become painfully obvious when riding the public trams.  I wasn't the only person that noticed this, but of… Continue reading Don’t Say That!

If It Looks & Swims & Quacks Like A Duck, It Might Not Be A Duck

I was shocked at what the pyramids looked like up close when I went to Egypt.  I always thought that they'd be smooth* on the outside.  But when I got up close to them they were made of very large stones. Pyramids of Giza More recently I found out that many of the Greek and… Continue reading If It Looks & Swims & Quacks Like A Duck, It Might Not Be A Duck

Is Someone Getting The Best Of You?

True story. I was once working in a hospital that was desperately short of doctors to cover the night shift.  The hospital somehow managed to find a senior doctor to cover one of the night shifts to oversee the work of the junior doctors, admit new patients and ensure patients were safe over night. Usually… Continue reading Is Someone Getting The Best Of You?

How To Measure Your Life

It is unusual how when you insist on measuring something, you often end up measuring what actually doesn't matter.  Often the thing you end up measuring is a distant relative of something meaningful. Modern medicine is pretty incredible.  We can stick a tube down your air pipe and artificially ventilate you, we can keep your… Continue reading How To Measure Your Life