An interesting read regarding graduate students and the value of stupidity in science. I think it applies well to the medical school and residency experience as well. I can relate to my educational experience thinking just when I thought I had a grasp on things, I didn't. And not only that, but I felt I had less of a grasp on things than the day before. This went on for years. Until one day, I didn't feel so stupid anymore.
I guess in one way or another, we are all stupid, some more than others. I know the farther I got into my education the dumber I felt. It wasn't until one day realized that I know about as much as my professors that I wasn't as stupid as I used to be. There was no a-ha moment. It just happened. One day, everything just made sense.
I can stand in front of a patients chart. Review their history, their past medical history and their acute data and everything just clicks. Almost invariably it makes sense. It's like the Rain Man. You have a thousand data points and all the dots just connect. I don't' know how it happens. It just does.
There is still a lot I don't know. Medicine is constantly changing and keeping up with the ever changing therapies can be a challenge. I think what medical school and residency does better than all other medical training tracks is it gives one a very strong foundation from which to ask the question why? Science is the pursuit of answers to questions. There is no better question in medicine than the question Why?
This is probably the biggest difference between physicians and NP's, PA's, etc. Physicians ask why. The others do not. They just follow guidelines, not caring where the guidelines came from or whether they actually apply to the patient in question.
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