Our Attention Span

Sorry for the long delay in updates, but I was busy drowning in the world of neverending meetings….not that it actually LASTED an entire week - - but it sure FELT like it did…

You see, along with the practice of medicine comes the inevitable committee.  And the problem with THIS committee is that it’s made up of a huge group of people that are NOT doctors - -true upstanding, honest, uptodate, able to concentrate individuals with drive and focus.

Have you ever been to a meeting or conference that involved DOCTORS?  It’s CRAZY.  I still remember the first family medicine conference I attended.  During the key note address people were scattered around the room eating, drinking, reading the paper, chatting, walking their babies around and frantically scribbling notes.  I looked around and felt immediately at ease- - everyone was as ADHD as I am when confronted with aural presentations.

The most RECENT talk I went to is PERFECT for family docs -- each talk lasted a total of 10 minutes.  That meant a 1 minute introduction followed by a 7 minute talk followed by 2 minutes of questions.  Brilliant.  That’s EXACLTY what us frazzled, inconsiderate, time sensitive, attention deficient doctors need.

SO this week I was at a meeting which was exactly the opposite.   Everyone sat patiently and attentively, listening to the minutia of logistical details on a subject that….I won’t elaborate on here….

I spent the first 30 minutes trying to contort my face into a position that made me appear somewhat interested.  I abandoned that within the first 5 minutes and concentrated instead on keeping my eyes open.  That game went on a long time.

Eventually I resorted to inventing a game to keep my brain from disintegrating into a big pile of mushy inattentiveness.  Here’s how the game went :  I counted to 100 as SLOWLY as possible and I tried to make it to 100 BEFORE the presenter moved on the next powerpoint slide.

The sad thing was – I lost at my own game.  The 3^rd slide lasted WAAY past 100 and the 4^th slide had me lose focus by 30.  I was a failure at my own game.

How I long for Monday when I can go to my office and do something I’m actually GOOD at.  A word of advice : don’t ask a doctor to be on your committee unless it involves Ritalin testing.