A Reader Responds to “What You Don't Know Can Hurt Your Patients”

To the Editor:

I would like to thank the editor who chose to place this short piece on Medscape.[1] I am an anatomic pathologist who has practiced both in a community setting and in a teaching department. Clearly, if I have read and responded to this article on this site, I am one of the physicians who have converted to the use of e-CME and e-problem researching. I am a late convert to computer use as I am of an age in which I was not raised with them nor exposed to them during my training or the first half of my carrier. However, since starting to use computers and the Net, I have found that I do both a faster – and, I feel, better – job of dealing with new or unusual problems. In addition, it has greatly increased the fun factor in work and the ease of preparation and quality of lectures and rounds. I think that the development of the Internet and good, quality medical sites and libraries that allow Web browsing and downloading of material are the most important new developments in the day-to-day practice of medicine that I have experienced. I will use this article and the references that were included to try to encourage my colleagues to get on the bus, as walking is much too slow.[1]

Yours truly,