My second column in The Rheumatologist has just come out.  Don’t let the incredibly boring title fool you; it’s been generating some buzz, at least on social media (I think).  If you want to take a read, here’s the link: Rheumatology Fellow Questions Diagnostic Utility of the Patient Physical Exam.  And if you don’t have time, here’s the short version below.

TL;DR – “Ultimately, the relevance of the physical examination depends on whether we apply the right test at the right time for the right patient. If we treat it perfunctorily as a ritual or gesture, then we take away its significance, and might as well save time and skip it entirely.”