Alteration

You may find my grumble on dan-dan noodle a bit excessive. Well, the water becomes deeper when you realize the same problem happens in medical practice.

Let me show you some email communcations between two academic staff when we first changed to the new curriculum.

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Dear all ...

Our students' predisposition to rote memorization of knowledge and skills may have arisen from a misunderstanding of good intentions. Apparently MO's ... have been telling our students that "the only correct way to inspect the abdomen is from the foot of the bed", that "you must palpate the abdomen sitting down at the patient's bedside", and etc... I certainly have not heard of them... If they are true, then basic principles are being ignored. The principle of the first is to inspect from a mid-line perspective and the second, to palpate with a smooth flow from the shoulder down, to the elbow, the wrist, and the palm. If these principles are met, then there are more than one way in positioning onself when performing the examination correctly, each with its own intrinsic advantages and disadvantages. What is required from our students is to perform a maneuver based on underlying principles and do it CONSCIENTIOUSLY, DILIGENTLY, AND INTELLIGENTLY. That is the spirit we should promote, not any set approach. Wether one should palpate the carotid artery with the thumb or the index and ring fingers depents on one's position in relation to the patient. There is no magic in using the thumb!

Yours sincerely, etc.

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Dear Professor X,

I would clarify that the teaching for ... examination does specify sitting down (or kneeling down) to palpate the abdomen, inspect from the end of a bed, and palpate carotide artery by thumb. They are in fact well described in ... Candidates did fail ... because of not observing these rules.

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Oh, you may immediately recognize the reply mail was by me. I shall show you more tomorrow.