Learning to Manage Some Urological Probems: a Case-Based Approach

EPILOGUE I feel very privileged to have practiced medicine for so many years. Gratifying, satisfying, rewarding are words which describe my experience. I have found over the years that injecting some humor into my letters was much appreciated by the physicians and perhaps even more so by their office staff. Indeed, very often I received referrals directly from the staff, who confessed to me later that their primary motivation for the referral (with tongue in cheek?) was to get my referral letter. Involving the students in the physician-patient relationship is a critical part of the learning process. Having the students play the role of patients can be a very effective teaching tool. The students must be able to empathize with the patients and must recognize the inherent risks of any diagnostic or therapeutic measures. These must be weighed against the natural course of the disease. Medical Students must remain open to the individual needs of the patients as they guide them in their medical dilemmas. I have attempted to present this material in an instructive yet informal style often using storytelling as a device to engage the readers’ attention. I hope that the above material will serve as a productive resource for medical students and educators.