In fact, the absence of curiosity probably impairs the learning of new ideas.
Gruber et al 2 showed that learners in a state of increased curiosity are more likely to retain information. Our mesolimbic system delivers a similar dopaminergic reward when we satisfy our curiosity that we might receive when we eat our favourite treat, match on Tinder or win on a big bet.Ĭuriosity is at the core of learning. Our brains are hard-wired to seek new information. Recent neuroscientific research 1 has shown that curiosity is an intrinsic drive within the human brain. For me the key to aiming at that ceiling where our patients get the care that they deserve is curiosity. The trouble with this attitude is that one inevitably lands upon the floor of adequacy and never reaches the ceiling of excellence. I stuck with what I knew, what I had been taught and what seemed safe. How can adult learners identify the educational gold and avoid the time sinks in this torrent of information?įor many years I found it easy to settle for ‘good enough’ practice. This has been described as ‘drinking from a firehose’. So how does one stay ‘up to date’ in a dozen disciplines once you are out there in the real world of practice? There is a staggering volume of education and medical evidence being piped into our phones, emails and lunchroom cork boards every day.
This is why lifelong learning is critical for anybody working outside of the larger academic centres. These are the realities of rural practice however, I believe that it should never be the knowledge of a rural doctor that results in lesser quality care. Frequently we do not have the same equipment or medications, often not able to provide specific services. Invariably rural hospitals are not as well-resourced as our city cousins. We need to be masters of our broad trade.
Our patients deserve the same quality care that they might receive in any metropolitan hospital. The old saying states that we are ‘Jacks of all trades, master of none.’ However, here I dissent from the traditional wisdom. Rural generalists are the platypi of the medical world – strange creatures that seem to be composed from spare parts of all the other specialties. Occasionally, I trifle in obstetrics when the need arises! Most of my time is spent in the emergency department and the operating theatres treating ‘whomever rolls in the door’. I am a GP by training and have postgraduate qualifications in paediatrics, anaesthesia, and diagnostic ultrasound. I work as a rural generalist in the beautiful Kimberley region of Western Australia. ‘Heaven is satisfied curiosity.’ ~ Paola Antonelli
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