[ASalazarMX]

"Doc, I have this small lump in my back that doesn't hurt, but hurts if I poke it."

"Oh, I remember I saw something like that in school, let me Google it!"

Medicine, like law, involves a lot of memorization.

[alasdair_]

>"Oh, I remember I saw something like that in school, let me Google it!"

This seems like a good thing, not a bad thing.

I'd MUCH prefer to have a doctor verify a diagnosis with reference material than to have them rely on their memory.

[ASalazarMX]

It's a double-edged sword. If he googled "lipoma" or similar it would be good, if he googled "painful lump when poked" I would be very wary of him. Double wary if he clicks on a random blog.

[glfharris]

By chance, I am a doctor. I spend a lot of time looking things up, even things I'm 80% sure about.

Yes, it's useful to have that knowledge already, and to that I'd say that copying out a textbook is a poor way to learn. It's far better to know the processes behind things or to learn through experience.

[GekkePrutser]

Bad example though. I'm sure MDs actually look a lot of stuff up because they can't remember every fringe thing during their entire career :)

Also it's an ever changing field of course.