Thyroid Weight??

[Wardens]

So I'm on endocrinology consults this month, and I'm asked by my attending to tell her how many grams each patient's thyroid weighs, by sticking my hand on their throat and asking them to swallow. This is complete nonsense, right? It was beautiful, today on rounds, she said, "what did you think of his thyroid?" My response: "well, I dunno maybe 15 grams." She replied, "absolutely! That's exactly how many grams I thought." It's like a carnival game.

Has anyone ever heard of this in ENT? Physical examination of an organ covered in muscle cannot even approximate weight, right?

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[soonereng]

So I'm on endocrinology consults this month, and I'm asked by my attending to tell her how many grams each patient's thyroid weighs, by sticking my hand on their throat and asking them to swallow. This is complete nonsense, right? It was beautiful, today on rounds, she said, "what did you think of his thyroid?" My response: "well, I dunno maybe 15 grams." She replied, "absolutely! That's exactly how many grams I thought." It's like a carnival game.

Has anyone ever heard of this in ENT? Physical examination of an organ covered in muscle cannot even approximate weight, right?

The ORL attending who taught us the head and neck exam actually made it a point to make fun of endocrine docs who say they can tell what the weight of it is by physical exam, but that is just n=1.

 

[resxn]

So I'm on endocrinology consults this month, and I'm asked by my attending to tell her how many grams each patient's thyroid weighs, by sticking my hand on their throat and asking them to swallow. This is complete nonsense, right? It was beautiful, today on rounds, she said, "what did you think of his thyroid?" My response: "well, I dunno maybe 15 grams." She replied, "absolutely! That's exactly how many grams I thought." It's like a carnival game.

Has anyone ever heard of this in ENT? Physical examination of an organ covered in muscle cannot even approximate weight, right?

ridiculous.

Also, funny.

How many endocrinologists take out thyroid glands? Of those who don't, how many check the weight of the thyroid gland on the path report and see if it correlates with their physical exam?

Classic.