In praise of the physical examination

@article{Verghese2009InPO,
  title={In praise of the physical examination},
  author={Abraham Verghese and Ralph I. Horwitz},
  journal={BMJ : British Medical Journal},
  year={2009},
  volume={339},
  url={https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:5371569}
}
It provides reason and ritual 
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98 Citations
Background Citations
29
Methods Citations
2

98 Citations

Include heart murmurs

The reference to white coats in Verghese and Horwitz’s editorial is out of date in the UK.1 These are almost extinct now in UK hospitals because …

Basic physical examination: a valid expectation, not an option

Preliminary findings from a pilot study which examined the completeness of physical examination of inpatients referred for specialist neurological assessment suggest significant omissions in basic examination which have the potential to compromise the quality and safety of care delivered.

Cancer patients' perceptions regarding the value of the physical examination: A survey study

Whether patients with advanced cancer have a positive or negative perception of the physical examination is determined and whether these perceptions are related to interpersonal/relational values (symbolic) or diagnostic/objective values (pragmatic) is determined.

Coals to Newcastle?

The editorial by Verghese and Horwitz highlights that certification of completion of training by the American Board of Internal Medicine has no assessment of the skills of physical examination.1 They…

The Bedside Evaluation: Ritual and Reason

Recognizing the importance of the bedside evaluation as a healing ritual and a powerful diagnostic tool when paired with judicious use of technology could be a stimulus for the recovery of an ebbing skill set among physicians.

Physical Examination Skills: Learning Difficulties

From the mid-1950s to the 2010s, textbooks of PE have presented an unselective compilation of physical signs regardless of their clinical importance.

The Physical Exam and Other Forms of Fiction

The traditional physical diagnosis course taught in the first two years of medical school has changed little in over half a century, and it deserves some scrutiny, if only because it is quite out of…

Patient’s perceptions of physical examination in the setting of chronic pain

Patients with chronic pain indicate that the physical examination is a highly positive aspect of their care, and there are some negative aspects of been examined which physicians should be aware of.

Physical Examination and the Physician-patient Relationship: A Literature Review

Increased collaboration between medical and social sciences, analysis of patient experiences, and research in nonWestern countries might help characterize the benefits, or lack thereof, of physical examinations.

Integrating the Physical Examination of The Respiratory System With Hand-Held Devices

This monograph proposes an approach to teaching the respiratory PE that consists of restricting the number of PE maneuvers by discerning between "essential", "important" and "optional" PE signs, and combining the instruction of the PE with the use of hand-held devices.
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2 References

Culture shock--patient as icon, icon as patient.

Dr. Abraham Verghese discusses the problem with a “chart as surrogate for the patient” approach. He believes that if one eschews the skilled and repeated examination of the real patient, then tests,…

Effect of a multiple-site intensive care unit telemedicine program on clinical and economic outcomes: An alternative paradigm for intensivist staffing*

The apparent success of this on-going multiple-site program, implemented with commercially available equipment, suggests that telemedicine may provide a means for hospitals to achieve quality improvements associated with intensivist care using fewer intensivists.