experience has been that the public will forgive you an error in treatment more readily than one in diagnosis , and I fully believe that more than one-half of the failures in diagnosis are due to hasty and unmethodic examinations .”
John intentionally built relationships with his patients . He always began his exams by talking about where a patient was from and who his family was , and invariably there was some connection in common that would create a bond . He never asked a patient a question he knew would not be answered truthfully . For instance , instead of asking how many alcoholic drinks a patient consumed a week , he would ask what the patient liked to drink – was he a Bourbon guy , and if so , what brand ? Then John would ask how many bottles of this great brew the patient bought each week . He used the same approach for cigarettes , food and exercise , even over the counter meds . Psychiatrist Dr . Debra Zukof added to this method of questioning when she advised John on a particularly confounding female patient who came in often with varying complaints involving different organ systems . Dr . Zukof said , “ Ask her who abused her – don ’ t ask whether she has been abused .” With that approach , the flood gates opened , and the patient divulged her lifelong torment and began on a path of healing .
While these tenets were the high-level guides to how John practiced medicine , there were other “ rules ” that were just plain practical , the products of long experience , and frankly , a few past mistakes .
» Being on call comes first . There were no exceptions . Thankfully , I managed to go into labor while he was off call ; he was with me when our children , Sarah Jane and John Dallas , were born .
» No alcohol while on call – ever . Like most of his colleagues , John worried about malpractice suits . As an arrogant young doctor , fresh out of a Mayo residency , he must have made a fuss about something that happened on the ward and a nurse accused him of being drunk as he visited a patient one night . That was it . No alcohol , not even a sip of an excellent wine . That way , if on a witness stand , he could state absolutely he had not had a drop to drink .
» A patient sick enough to be admitted , is sick enough to be seen . The phone call would typically come between 2:00 and
IN REMEMBRANCE
3:00 a . m ., when patients were frightened in the middle of the night . John ’ s first question was generally , “ How long has this been going on ?” Invariably it was days , if not weeks . After deciding to admit the patient , he would get dressed , figuratively “ kick the wall ” and head to the hospital . He had gotten the angst out of his system and was kind to the patient once he saw them – I asked just to make sure !
John practiced medicine in Louisville for almost 40 years . He touched so many lives and received great satisfaction from the relationships he built with his patients . He had a satisfying profession , many varied interests and a wonderful family who loved him dearly . Most importantly , he was incredibly human and exhibited great empathy … he lived a good life . - Lynn Johnston Howard
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