At a medical conference last week, I learned of a patient with a very complex illness. He had been seen by nine consultants, none of whom had actually touched him. The 10th consultant sat at the bedside and listened carefully to the man before examining him. This led to a rational plan of analysis and treatment of his life-threatening disorder.
Listening and seeing with deliberation are ancient diagnostic tools at risk of being forgotten in an era of high-tech medicine.
I thought of the man with many doctors as I reflected upon the career of Dr. Winston Caine, who died last week.
I met Winston in medical school in Baltimore in 1961. Subsequently, we shared years on the medical house staff at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville. After separate stints of military service, we were members of a medical partnership for 33 years.
At the outset of a shared journey, technology was in its infancy. Medications for high blood pressure, diabetes and many infectious diseases were limited and often associated with unpleasant and, sometimes, dangerous side effects. Cancer chemotherapy was in a crude infancy. In a breakthrough, an electrical engineer and a heart surgeon collaborated to produce the first heart defibrillator. CAT scans, MRIs and systems of life support remained on a distant horizon.