My recent post about subjectivity in clinical practice, and its central, but often maligned status in current medical literature has inspired me to highlight some tools that I find particularly useful because of the subjectivity infused into them.  The list is long, since in my opinion it’s what makes the new online technology so successful as an educational tool. Not the wealth of objective information, but the fact that it is suffused with subjectivity and personal insight.

My first taste of this was with the podcasts offered by Mel Herbert of EMRAP & Co.  When they first came out I couldn’t get enough of them, and initially (other than my fascination with the Aussie accent) I couldn’t put my finger on why I found them such useful learning tools.  Wouldn’t I find much of the same information myself by opening a textbook or reading the same journal articles? Well, no.

I came to realize that it was the Subjectivity of the presenters that was the true value in the podcast’s content.  I haven’t quite come up with a name for what to call this, but there is definitely some kind of contextual or experiential higher order learning taking place – something that can only come into existence when you integrate knowledge, experience, and subjectivity.

Imagine, a study that supports a certain group of patients getting thrombolysis in stroke may be of some value.  That same study filtered through the experience of a clinician who sees emergent stroke patients daily, who knows how to navigate the million challenges that stand between diagnosis and therapeutic intervention, and can help you integrate the new information into your current clinical practice?  Priceless.

Is Subjectivity is flawed? Yes.  Understanding where it’s succeeds, where it fails us; where it can fly on its own and where it needs support are all open to continued personal reflection and objective evaluation. The issue is not that it’s flawed and needs replacing with “evidence” or technology, but how best to hone it into a powerful clinical tools with the support of technology and EBM.

But this post is not really meant to be another pitch for why subjectivity sits front and center in the house of medicine, and all our science and technology serves at its pleasure. It’s about great tools that highlight the clinical value of subjectivity.  So here’s one for you.

Infectious Disease Compendium. A Persiflager’s Guide. Is an example of the value added to a clinical tool when it is infused with the author’s point of view.  It has humor, and some silliness, but it also has insight, perspective and personal context that transforms a dry Sanford guide style reference chart into an interactive app that’s as close to having an ID consult with you on your shift as you can get.

Download this app, flip through some of the sections and you will find pearls to guide your decisions beyond the usual “if A then B” of most reference guides. No doubt some of this experiential knowledge will benefit your patients, make your shifts in the ED easier when angsting over a difficult antibiotic choice, and maybe help that ID doctor in the morning figure out if the bottle of gram positive organisms growing from your admitted patient’s blood culture is a contaminant or something he really needs to worry about.