May 31, 2012: Guenther Pohlmann Society Meeting

     Again in any month when there is a 5th Thursday, we call our meeting the Guenther Pohlmann Society Meeting, in memory of one of our founding members.
     We often discuss something Guenther had written, or just our memories of the extraordinary man. Sometimes his daughter, Heidi, brings in something -- one of his photos or something he wrote or had researched.
     On this occasion Heidi could not be with us, and she sent this quote:
     Philosophers ruin language,
     Poets ruin logic,
     But with human reasoning alone, 
    Man will never make it through life."


     Friedrich Von Schiller

This time we all reminesced about our recollections of Guenther, his contributions to these meetings, his ability to present an erudite discussion of almost any topic, his searching mind, his interest and expertise in photography, and his great ethics. We all recognized his love of his work in medical care; he was indeed "a doctor's doctor."

 Sky asked shy was he such a good man that he was, and why such a good doctor? The group consensus was that he continued to learn throughout his life and he was dedicated to the learning of others. He also managed to stay engaged. He was involved in so many things at the hospital that he had multiple retirements and yet he still was there every day until his death. He was a very ethical man and a gentle hero.

It was recalled that Guenther Pohlmann went to Iraq to the first Gulf War and directed the establishment of one of the major field hospitals there. He also was instrumental in instigating debriefing of veterans as they returned home from this war, a practice to try to reduce the frequency of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) in returning veterans.

Someone spoke of how interviewing patients is taught to medical students now. The students are given only 30 minutes to figure out the diagnosis. A "professional" patient who hired to do this acts as the "patient". This type of training puts an enormous amount of pressure on the interviewer and teaches the student that they cannot allow the patient to open up because there is a time pressure. We know that we doctors can't learn about a patient without a dialogue. Therefore objective medicine has had a diminution with these techniques.

Aristotle said: (paraphrased): It's more important to know the person with the disease than to know the disease itself.

Paul commented that 1/5 of kids who see him have nothing wrong with them. The parents are just worried about them and bring them in to him, as a doctor specializing in development. In my experience the actual ill patients in a primary care adult medicine practice is more like maybe 5% of visits. The care of the remaining 95% is really "The art of medicine."

We also have an announcement about an honor bestowed on one of our regular members:
Eric Weiner won an international award for his recent book, n the area of Self Hope, Journals and quotes for his book:
Words from the Heart: Practical Guide to Writing An Ethical Will.