What Doctors Can Learn From Musicians

At first, when I read the title of the article, I thought, "How in the world can doctors learn from musicians?" But after reading it, I can definitely see how it works. Music and medicine differ in one, big way: Medicine is based around having the knowledge of many medical topics, but little knowledge if used in the performance of medicine. Musicians, on the other hand, make it their goal to perform. They practice and practice and practice with plenty of critical feedback from teachers, themselves, and audiences. For most of you, you've had some sort of private lesson teacher or coach or something of that sort. The way they help you is by coaching you. Helping you along the way, you know? That's what doctors can use from musicians. Getting constant feedback and coaching during their process of practicing. They "spur constant growth" (Ofri) with you, motivating you to do your best. As a musician, you strive to become better, and no plateaus are acceptable. I find that this method can be very effective and it would greatly help our population of doctors. If they get their feedback and criticism, they can better their performance and make sure they're the best they could be.
The author, Danielle Ofri, is a musician and a doctor, so the article works very well coming from someone who has the experience of both areas. I thought it was well done, and brought up a good point of improvement in the field of medicine. She also quotes a book by a fellow doctor about her argument, and how "the actual practice of clinical medicine is a performance" (Ofri).


Article: What Doctors Can Learn From Musicians by Danielle Ofri, M.D.

iBooks go a little too far?

The point of a book is to read it, right? Well, apparently not. At least, not to the new iBook from Apple. You may think this iBook may be just your regular electronic book, made for reading enjoyment. Nope. This book comes fully equipped with games, interactive playthings, music, and just a whole bunch of distractions. If I wanted that much stuff in my book, I would have just gotten the computer game. It think this new feature just takes away from the enjoyment of just reading words. Not playing "whack-a-mole" with Beatles characters because it somewhat has relevance to their story, "The yellow Submarine". Author Laura Miller pointed out something I definitely agreed with, "You can’t really pay much attention to anything else while you’re reading, so in order to play with any of these new features, you have to stop reading." (Miller). Something else I am not a fan of with these books is not being allowed to have an imagination. With little videos and interactive illustrations of what happens, I wouldn't be able to think for myself and picture the story with how I want it to look. If I had one of these fancy-shmancy iBooks, I wouldn't have that feeling I do on lazy summer days where I sit outside in the sun and just get lost in a book. No. I'd have all of these distractions within the book that would cause me, and many other people, to not even read a book.
The author definitely has a strong opinion when it comes to these iBooks, and that is negativity. Coming from first-hand experience with one, she hates it. Reading with more than one person, especially children, causes both of them to argue about who gets to play which game and who gets to use the special feature that the meaning of reading gets lots with them. This is not something we need, especially for our youth. It was said that this may be the possible future of books. And it really frightens me. The author's first-hand experience definitely adds more support to her argument.




Article: Can bells and whistles save the book? by Laura Miller

The Color of Water by James McBride