The Voice of Reason

Bennet’s Classification for Reading the Medical Literature JAMA 1992, 267:920

Med student
Reads entire article, doesn’t understand what any of it means

Intern
Uses journals as pillows during nights on call [osmosis technique]

Resident
Wants to read entire article, eats dinner instead

Chief resident
Skips articles entirely, reads classified ads for jobs

Junior attending
Reads & analyzes everything so he can pimp the med students (See Imagining the Possibilities)

Senior attending
Reads abstracts only, quotes liberally to impress students and housestaff

Research attending
Reads and analyzes everything, including stats, in lieu of sex

Chief of service
Reads references only to see if he was referenced anywhere

Private attending
Reads Time & Newsweek for medical articles to keep up with patients

Emeritus attending
Reads entire article, doesn’t understand what any of it means

Filed under: Medicine |