BLOG: Dismantling Dogma - Introduction

When Heuristics Become Handcuffs

Pattern recognition is a superpower in medicine. Every day, clinicians process hundreds of data points, weaving together symptoms, lab values, and patient stories into diagnoses. We develop these mental shortcuts and schemas because they're quite useful: they help us cut through complexity at the bedside to get as close as we can to the truth.

But sometimes, these mental models evolve beyond their original purpose. They become entangled with the institutional culture and zeitgeist, transforming into something much more rigid: dogma.

The danger with dogma is that it always passes the vibe check. It feels right. But somewhere along the way, we’ve lost the initial calculus - the nuanced thinking that is now obscured by a fixed belief that takes us further away from the one place we need to be - with the patient in front of us.

I'm kicking off a series exploring clinical dogmas – the commonly accepted phrases and cultural movements that started as helpful reminders of a truth but have become reflexes that, when left unchecked, cloud judgment and cause harm.

Up first…My personal favorite - ”Less is More”