Electronically Challenged

It took a geek to make my new iPod functional.  It's still not entirely functional.  Electronic Medical Records as I have used them the last three months impede my ability to think about patients.  My three computers, the main one, my laptop, and the one on my desk at work never seem to work at peak function.  And I get ripped off for most of the services I am compelled to purchase for these.

In a prior generation, when I was a potential geek on the sidelines, it was the cars that got enthusiasts enthused but irritated the rest of us by costly breakdowns for which we were dependent on people a little outside the main stream to get us mobile again.

My patients may have similar comments about me as their Patient Repairman.  I did not create the complexity of their physiology nor did I cause its malfunction, at least not initially.  Things are generally repairable and upgradable.  I do not perceive doctors as geeks the way I regard computer experts or auto mechanics, though the public may not concur.

This new calendar year, I will make a better effort to understand my electronic resources and bodily resources and use them in a more functional way.

Happy New Year.