The Picture

Salam

I'm back again to share another experience, another memorable moment in life. Hopefully one that will make me more the wiser as I am today.

As a 3rd year medic, I looked at a picture today and I thougt. I thought long and hard, scrutinising every detail of the picture there is to scrutinise, overlooking those I did not have any knowledge of, and finally mustered all my courage to regurge the accumulated info swelling up in the belly of my mind.

"This is a picture by Leonardo Da Vinci drawn in the 16th century. It shows a fair skinned female sitting on a wooden chair with her arm crossed over; the right on top of the left, with dark hair and possibly wearing several layers of clothes. The outermost seems like a dark shawl draped around her shoulders, with an under layer which has yellow-brownish sleeves. In the far background, you can see clouds and hills and winding roads with a possible sea-like portion separating the hills from the clouds. It could just be the sky though".

What follows is the million dollar question:

So, what is this picture?

Yeah, everyone knows, its the Mona Lisa.

But thats how I am taught as a medical student. I read in books about all these signs and symptoms but I've never experienced them in life. When I get a scenario, I always look for clues; I scrutinise every little detail to see if any of them fit those that I've read about. If one or two signs are missing, I am scared to say 'its the Mona Lisa' because I would look like a total idiot if i get it wrong. How can you not recognise the Mona Lisa? But then, with things are so distinctively different, you just cant get it wrong. The only limitation here is either you have the knowledge or not.

But how about this?

I will attempt to describe an animal. It has four legs, furry and are kept as pets in houses, in other words domesticated animals. Its not very big.

As a medical student, I'ld be thinking: dog, cat, guinea pig, hamster, mouse and probably racking my head for any other possibilities without even knowing which one to rule out and which one to go with.

A consultant might just say its either a dog or a cat, but at the same time having all the other possibilities at the back of his/her head. Common things are common and from experience, they'll know which are the ones that is likely to be that animal.

Similarities: the consultant and I both know how a cat and dog and hamster etc looks like. We have the knowledge.

Difference: The consultant has been there for at least 10years, each day storing more info and creating a massive experience bank, knowing which are common and which are rare. S/he would immediately spot it only based on how people describe it while I might need to hear what sound the animal makes to be sure, whether it purs or barks etc. I might do the wrong tests and instead see what type of fur the animal has when probably hearing it's sound is a better diagnostic method.

So thats what I achieved from today's teaching. Learn to see the forest, not a tree.