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The first
patient who died on my watch was an older man with a faulty heart. We tried to
slow it down with treatment, but it suddenly stopped beating completely. Later,
whenever I would have a case like that one, I found myself second-guessing my
clinical management. However, it turns out that thinking twice may actually
cause more harm than good.
In a
working paper, Emory University researchers found that when doctors delivering
a baby have a bad result, they are more likely to switch to a different delivery
method with the next patient, often unnecessarily and sometimes with worse
results.
Because
doctors make so many decisions that have serious consequences, the fallout
from second-guessing appears especially large for us. A 2006 study found that
if a patient had a bleed after being prescribed (开药) warfarin, the physician was about 20% less likely to prescribe
later patients the blood thinner that prevents strokes (中风). However, if a patient was not on warfarin and had a stroke
physicians were still no more likely to prescribe warfarin to their other
patients.
These
findings highlight interesting behavioral patterns in doctors. In the
blood-thinner study, doctors were more affected by the act of doing harm
(prescribing a blood thinner that ended up hurting doctors were more affected
by the act of doing harm(prescribing a blood thinner that ended up hurting a
patient) and less affected by letting harm happen (not prescribing a blood
thinner and the patient having a stroke). Yet a stroke is often more permanent
and damaging than a bleed.
But this
phenomenon is not unique to medicine. ''Overreaction to Fearsome Risks'' holds
true for broader society.
For
instance, sensational headlines about shark attacks on humans in Florida in
2001 caused a panic and led the state to prohibit shark-feeding expeditions.
Yet shark attacks had actually fallen that year and, according to the study,
such a change was probably unnecessary given the extremely small risk of such
an attack happening.
Humans are
likely to be influenced by emotional and often irrational (不理性的) thinking when processing information, bad
events and mistakes. As much as we don't want to cause an unfortunate event to
happen again, we need to be aware that a worst situation that can be imagined
doesn't necessarily mean we did anything wrong. When we overthink, we fail to
rely on thinking based on what we know or have experienced. Instead, we may
involuntarily overanalyze and come to the wrong conclusion.
I have
treated dozens of patients who presented with the same illnesses as my first
patient, who died more than a year ago. Instead of second-guessing myself, I
trusted my clinical instinct (本能) and stayed the course. Every one of those patients survived. You
should trust your instinct in your life, too.
(1)
The first two paragraphs suggest that________.
A . bad medical outcomes affect doctors
B . delivering babies can be difficult work
C . some doctors are not very experienced
D . doctors sometimes make silly mistakes
(2)
In the blood-thinner study, doctors________.
A . tend to prescribe less effective medicine
B . are more concerned about the patients' safety
C . become less confident in writing a prescription
D . believe a stroke is more treatable than a bleeding
(3)
What does the underlined word ''fallout'' in Paragraph 3 probably mean?
A . Result
B . Benefit
C . Difference
D . Absence
(4)
The author will probably agree that________.
A . we should not doubt our own decisions
B . our experience will pave way for our future
C . humans are emotional and irrational on the whole
D . instincts don't necessarily lead to wrong directions
答案: A
C
A
D