Stuck in a rut

Do you draw or paint? You should learn. A big hurdle that new artists have to overcome is learning how to draw what they see, not what they already know. If a new artist was going to draw a car, they might draw something that looks like this. They're not drawing what they see, they're drawing what they already "know" a car looks like.

If another artist took the time to really look at a car, they might come up with something that looks like this. This artist drew what they saw.

Do you see the difference? Neither drawing took a lot of skill to produce. But the artist in the first drawing just assumed he knew what his subject looked like. He subconsciously said to him self "I've seen a million cars, I know what they look like!". And he drew what he assumed the car looked like. The artist in the second drawing really looked, and drew what he actually saw. He wasn't thinking about the last million cars he's seen, he was just looking at the one in front of him, and drawing that specific car.

So when you look at a patient, be like the second artist. Take the time to really look. Don't make any assumptions based on the last million patients you've seen. Don't just categorize somebodies skin as "pink warm and dry". Ask yourself "what does this persons skin really look like?". And then really look. You'll be surprised what you find.

/r/ems Thread