To respond to the EKG comments:
EKG machines do have autodiagnosis. However, it is not accurate enough to base a diagnosis on. So what we do is print off a blank copy (with no diagnosis) for the attending. We then give the copy with the machine's diagnosis for the cardiologist, who makes changes and signs it. The changes are recorded in the computer and the final edited version goes to the patient's electronic chart.
There are lots of levels of being able to read EKG's. A nurse might read an EKG as "Atrial fibrillation." A regular doctor might read it as "Atrial fibrillation with a bundle branch block and ST wave abnormalities." A cardiologist might read it as "Atrial fibrillation with a complete left bundle branch block, old inferolateral infarct, left atrial deformity, and lateral ischemia." They would all be correct, but a doctor generally will be able to get more information than a nurse and a cardiologist can get more than a doctor. That's why the cardiologist has the official read.
I have indeed had doctors ask me how to read an EKG. They may have been interns or residents - don't remember - but it did happen. Thankfully this was not very common, but it was at a highly ranked hospital attached to a highly ranked med school. My point was not to imply that this situation was the norm or to diminish the importance of most doctors' abilities, but rather to respond to some of the posts which I felt were arrogant. I feel that there is a tendency to assume that doctors are the only ones that ever know anything in the hospital, and that they never have the learning curve and the moments where they seek help and education from other health workers. Some of the earlier posts were saying that there is nothing that a pre med can learn from a nurse. I was pointing out that there are times that a doctor is learning from a nurse (or a cardiac tech who didn't go to school) and that if a doctor can learn from a nurse, then a pre med can certainly learn from a nurse, and that there will be a long fall from that high horse if you are already assuming as a pre med that you know more than everyone.
