Explaining Complex Topics: Lessons from Dr. Martin Samuels
Clinician-teachers often struggle to explain complex topics to people outside their field. Dr. Martin Samuels was a master at this. Smart, funny, and practical, he could convey the essence of common neurologic problems in ways that were always compelling.
Paul Sax
Harvard/Brigham Infectious Diseases doctor, writer, @CIDJournal editor, educator. Prefer baseball to football, pizza to sushi, dogs to cats, Beatles to Stones.
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One of the most difficult skills for clinician-teachers is explaining complex topics to people outside their field.
— Paul Sax (@PaulSaxMD) June 8, 2023
Can't think of anyone who did this better than @BrighamWomens @BWHNeurology Dr. Martin (Marty) Samuels. He will be missed! https://t.co/H0ZzzhFg51
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Smart, eschewing jargon, funny (!) and always practical, Marty could convey the essence of common neurologic problems in ways that were always compelling.
— Paul Sax (@PaulSaxMD) June 8, 2023
Some talk titles:
Dizziness
Headache
Dementia
Weakness
Short titles, but long on content, wisdom. Can't miss lectures!
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I heard him speak on Dementia at a large CME conference when the slide system failed.
— Paul Sax (@PaulSaxMD) June 8, 2023
No matter -- he held hundreds of learners spellbound with just his extemporaneous comments.
Everyone left with a clinical pearl they could apply to their practice.
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His enthusiasm for clinical neurology was palpable.
— Paul Sax (@PaulSaxMD) June 8, 2023
Watch how he describes the mental status exam in this video. Just Marty speaking, and a "sample" patient. But he gets him!
Priceless.
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And Marty was not shy about sharing his opinion.
— Paul Sax (@PaulSaxMD) June 8, 2023
This piece he wrote about the people devising healthcare "systems", yet routinely going outside of the system for themselves, is a classic. I know that @roguerad agrees
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Finishing with one of my favorite lectures of his -- where he describes making clinical "mistakes", and what he learned from them.
— Paul Sax (@PaulSaxMD) June 8, 2023
Clinical medicine is hard. Mistakes are a chance to learn--and he inspired us to do that again and again.
RIP Marty.
fin.https://t.co/jeWXTRkJGL