171 Ashley Ave.
Charleston, SC 29425
843-792-1414
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January 2007
Letter From Our Chair
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L. Lyndon Key, MD
Professor and Chairman
Department of Pediatrics |
Dear faculty, Children's Hospital staff and other friends,
2006 was a very good year. We made changes that solidified our position as the premier Children's Hospital in the region. It is a good time to look at all the modern miracles that we have from computerized imaging, simulation labs, and electronic records. Against this mountain of mechanization, however, the healing touch, the open mind, and the attention to what the patient is feeling remain the tools that get things done. This means that we need to continually hone our minds to see, hear, process and direct the wealth of technological miracles.
I would like to see medical education continuing to allow us to work with the patient as the main learning venue. My resolution this year is to try to help each student, resident, and practitioner to appreciate the need for judgment and processing the cues that are difficult to quantify mixed in with some good old common sense.
I note that there are many individuals who know many facts, but do not have a framework of systematic knowledge to guide their decision making. Evidence-based medicine is a powerful tool. It allows us to develop and follow protocols that will help to eliminate errors. However, each protocol must be tailored to take into account the social, physical and mental makeup of the patient.
While looking forward to the future of this New Year, I want to remind every student of medicine from 20-90 years old that if physicians miss the lessons of the past taught by professors, records, articles and texts, they will not be able to use the miraculous power of the human mind and the depth of feeling within the human heart to reach a decision. Remember, that it is the ability to make people feel better, which is the true work of the physician. Let us never strive to diagnose and treat without understanding the whole patient. If we do, the human element will be lost.
Sincerely,
L. Lyndon Key, MD
Chair, Department of Pediatrics
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