Episode 18: Dealing with Uncertainty in Medicine

In this podcast episode, Chloe Atkins explores discomfort with uncertainty in medicine using her own story as a backdrop. At age 21, she awoke from surgery to find herself paralyzed and unable to see. For 15 years, she struggled with a severe unidentified illness. Chloe says her condition was unidentifiable because her symptoms didn’t fit current models for known diseases. She refers to diagnoses as “useful models” that can provide pathways for treatment, yet people don’t fit perfectly to the models. In her research, Chloe highlights what clinicians and patients can do to improve patient safety for those with undiagnosed physical symptoms. She identifies communication as key to dealing with uncertainty. She says these conversations are not always taking place, and even things as unexpected as hospital design and electronic health records can impede communication.

After listening to this podcast listeners will be able to:
1.  Recognize the discomfort both patients and physicians experience around uncertainty, and how that discomfort can provoke undesirable behaviors.
2.  Understand that relationships and communication are key to achieving satisfaction with health outcomes.
3.  Realize that medicine is not all-powerful, that there are limits to understanding and treatment. It is important to be aware of and tolerate the unknown.

Chloe Atkins
Chloe Atkins is an associate professor in the Department of Communication and Culture at the University of Calgary. She has a PhD in Political Theory and is the author of the award-winning book My Imaginary Illness: A Journey into Uncertainty and Prejudice in Medical Diagnosis, which chronicles her experience as an undiagnosed patient for more than a dozen years. Her current research includes a qualitative exploratory investigation to consider practitioner and patient responses to the phenomenon of Medically Undiagnosed Physical Symptoms.

Read more:
To learn more about Chloe Atkins, see www.chloegkatkins.com
To find out about her book, My Imaginary Illness: A Journey into Uncertainty and Prejudice in Medical Diagnosis, go to www.myimaginaryillness.com