(The essential part of rounding with medical students and interns) Pimping is an essential part of medical education that seems to be so often missed in our kinder and more gentle brand of medical education that seems to be the rage these days. Pimping is an art form that is slowly perfected over the years and is passed on as a write of passage. A Crucible of sorts that is very specialty specific and never forgotten by young doctors. Pimping consists of asking the ever studious medical students and half awake interns questions that are essentially unanswerable. Dr. Fred Brancati, M.D. in his immortal work "The Art of Pimping" explains that lawyers often call this Socratic education but really there is so much more. He writes that pimping inoculates the intern with profound and abiding respect for his attending physician while at the same time ridding the intern of needless self-esteem. Eventually, as the interns become residents they learn the art of pimping themselves and how to dodge and bluff the questions and become the pimpers themselves.
Here are some of the great pimp questions:
Where is Meckles Cave? (Fifth cranial nerve bundle prior to ducusation)
What is an Otis Elevator used for? (To go up and down floors)
Why are some organs paired? (Surgical answer is so you can cut one out)
What is a Hasselhoff? ( An emergency patient with bizarre explanation for their injury (David Hasselhoff's had a bizarre shaving accident in which he hit his head on a chandelier; the broken glass severed 4 tendons and an artery in his right arm)
What did Rudolf Valentino die of? (A perforated ulcer, his surgeons thought it was appendicitis when they saw imflamation in the right lower quadrant. The moral is check everything, not just the obvious.)
What is the first thing that you check on an x-ray? (The name of the patient)
What is the sensitivity and specificity of the cryptococcal csf antigen test? (the answer is not important, you just have to look frustrated when they dont answer.)
Do identical twins have identical finger prints? (No.)
What did Dr. Moniz win the Nobel Prize in medicine for? (The prefrontal lobotomy. Often asked when looking at trauma head cts.)
How much spit do we make in a day? (1 litre)
There are a bunch more. I'll try to remember more.
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2 comments:
"while at the same time ridding the intern of needless self-esteem." THAT's HILARIOUS!!
You could probably get me to turn into a pile of melted jello on the floor. I'd be both frustrated and mortified i didn't know the answers... and you could do it with just a look. but then would toughen up ...I suppose.
My favorite is "Why are some organs paired? (Surgical answer is so you can cut one out)" :)
Thanks for the laugh! :)
Throckmorton..sorry..off topic-I know... but I thought of you when I was reading this post "Your doctor made a mistake. Do you want to know?" by an OB/GYN discussing the topic at a dinner conversation between doctors and lawyers.
Her blog is at this address:http://open.salon.com/content.php?cid=72669
It is an interesting question as were the comments.
Anyway... a commentator said something that got my attention. I have never heard of this but think it is a great idea!
They said there are instructions in their will that no one is allowed to sue any physicians after their death. Evidently some doctors screwed up and the patient lost their voice as a result.
I think it is a good idea. Some people are amazing... in a good way! :)
I left a comment there as Carol W at the bottom..LOL! I only wanted to sign my SeaSpray name and somehow ended up opening a blog with my real name showing in the comments! Eventually got to changed to Carol W and can't figure out how to delete the blog!
Anyway...the doc's question sounded like the kind of stuff you contemplate. :)
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