"It would take an act of imagination to link these symptoms. The patient never made that leap, and neither did any of his doctors. ...The patient says Helfrich was the only doctor who seemed to truly look at him. During that first encounter, Helfrich didn't take notes, didn't focus on his chart, didn't click through page after page in the computer. He simply asked questions, listened to the answers and observed. ...The diagnosis was staring her in the face for years, but she did not see it. Psychologists call this inattention blindness -- instances when we don't see something because it's not what we are expecting to see; it's not what we are looking for. Sherlock Holmes had a somewhat different description. "I have trained myself to notice what I see," Holmes says. Arthur Conan Doyle, himself a physician, imbued his character with the kind of keen observational skills so essential to a good physician. This ability consists of casting a wide net to see the whole picture -- even when the complaint that brings the patient to medical attention is commonplace, like insomnia."
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