The POCUS Manifesto is officially published and available on Amazon. This was the culmination of an idea that started last year when browsing through the comments section of an article I wrote for STAT about POCUS during the COVID-19 pandemic:
“sort of akin to ditching the percussion hammer and tuning fork in neurology! Get an MRI and call in the subspecialist. Why study physical diagnosis at all? Why even bond with the patient? In this brave new world of medicine the Doctor will only see you for 3-4 minutes and then the PA, NP or office manager will take over.”
“Yea... while we are at it, let's just ditch the whole physical exam... and let the patient enter their history and review of systems into Epic and we as "physicians" can just sit on our ass in front of a computer screen and let AI make the diagnosis."
“ ... if this is the future of medical education then God help us all. I am retired from my profession as of June of this year and when I read these kinds of articles I am reminded of how much my profession disappointments [sic] me now. who will care for me............i hope i don’t get sick as one of my great fears next to going to prison is going to the hospital”
These are physicians that believe point-of-care ultrasound will transport us into a medical dystopia where the clinician is excluded from the patient's care. Of course, this couldn't be farther from the truth. These misunderstandings were a strong signal that the vast majority of clinicians have not been exposed to what POCUS is capable of.
There are already many great how-to POCUS books, but there wasn't a why POCUS book. A friendly primer on what POCUS is, why it is important, how did it come to be, what evidence is there to support its use, and how does it compare to the stethoscope. These basic questions are answered through the lens of our medical history, going back to the origins of our physical exam, standing in Laennec's shoes as he pioneered the field of auscultation. Or transporting to 1985 when Dr. Daniel Lichtenstein started tinkering with whole-body ultrasound. It explores the origins of echocardiography and cardiac POCUS, and it characterizes and responds to many of the common criticisms elicited.
As Author Michael Gerber once said, “If you’re going to write a book, write a f*&%ing book.” Well, that is exactly what I tried to do. I hope you'll read it and tell your medical friends to read it. You can buy it here.