Kirk0

With this initiative, he has proven the contagious nature of childbed fever.Ha!It 1879, and Louis Pasteur has identified the contaminant responsible for many cases of childbed fever:Hemolytic streptococcus bacteria.Hmm, my fries are cold.Must be because my ice cream melted.

Like Meigs here, who refuses to consider the possibility that he playing a role in his patients plight.His flawed argument doesn leave any path forward for further investigation but Holmes does.It 1847, and physician Ignaz Semmelweis has reduced the number of childbed fever deaths in a clinic from 12% to 1% by requiring all medical personnel to disinfect their hands after autopsies and between patient examinations.

Based on this correlation between autopsies of fever victims and new fever patients,he proposes a possible cause.Since there no evidence that the autopsy causes the fever beyond this correlation,he doesn jump to the conclusion that autopsy causes fever.Instead, he suggests that doctors are infecting their patients via an invisible contaminant on their hands and surgical instruments.This idea outrages most doctors,who see themselves as infallible.

If I may, just what do you think causes inflammation? Nothing?It just is? Really?Humor me for a moment in discussing one of your colleague ideas?Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes.I know, I know, you don like his theory?you already wrote a scathing letter about it.But let fill your students in, shall we?Holmes noticed a pattern: when a patient dies of childbed fever,a doctor performs an autopsy.If the doctor then treats a new patient,that patient often comes down with the fever.

And we all know that not true,right?Actually, don answer that.A couple of different things could be going on here.First, it possible that fever and inflammation are correlated purely by coincidence.Or, there could be a causal relationship that the opposite of what you think?the fever causes the inflammation,rather than the inflammation causing the fever.Or both could share a common underlying cause you haven thought of.

Correlation does not imply causation:When two phenomena regularly occur together,one does not necessarily cause the other.So you say women who have inflammation also come down with childbed fever,therefore the inflammation caused the fever.But that not necessarily true.Yes, yes, the inflammation comes first,then the fever,so it seems like the inflammation causes the fever.But by that logic, since babies usually grow hair before teeth,hair growth must cause tooth growth.

Having observed abdominal inflammation in patients who go on to develop the fever,he claims this inflammation is the cause of childbed fever.Much of the medical establishment supports his theory.Oh, come on!They really leave me no choice but to teach them some skepticism.That better.Now, Meigs, your argument is based on a fallacy the false cause fallacy.

Oh the humanity!Ah... humanity...It a trainwreck,but I can look away.It 1843, and a debate is raging among physicians about one of the most common killers of women: childbed fever.Childbed fever strikes within days of giving birth,killing more than 70% of those infected and nobody knows what causes it.Obstetrician Charles Meigs has a theory.

It's tempting to think of fraud as a victimless crime because corporations and civic institutions aren't people.But fraud harms real people in virtually every case:the employees of Parmalat who lost their jobs,the citizens of Dixon whose taxes subsidized horse breeding,the customers of companies which raise their prices to offset losses.Sometimes the effects are obvious and devestating,like when Bernie Madoff caused thousands of people to lose their life savings.But often they're subtle and not easy to untangle.Yet someone, somewhere is left holding the bill.

During her time as City Comptroller for Dixon, Illinois,Rita Crundwell embezzled over 53 million dollars.Rita was one of the country's leading quarter horse breeders and winner of 52 world championships.But the cost of maintaining the herd ran to 200,000 dollars per month.Because her position gave her complete control over city finances,she was easily able to divert money to an account she used for private expenses,and the scheme went unnoticed for 20 years.It is believed that Crundwell felt entitled to a lavish lifestyle based on her position,and the notoriety her winnings brought to the city.

And then there's fraud on a massive scale.In 2003, Italian dairy food giant Parmalat went bankrupt after it was found to have fabricated a 4 billion dollar bank account and falsified financial statements to hide the fact that its subsidiaries had been losing money.Because it was family controlled,corporate governance and regulator supervision were difficult,and the company likely hoped that the losses could be recouped before anyone found out.And it's not just corporate greed.Governments and non-profits are also susceptible to fraud.

Some feel entitled to the money because they are underpaid and overworked and others believe their fraud is victimless,perhaps even planning to return the money once their crisis is resolved.Some of the most common types of fraud don't even register as such to the perpetrator.Examples include employees fudging time sheets or expense reports,taxpayers failing to report cash earnings,or service providers overbilling insurance companies.Though these may seem small,and can sometimes only involve hundreds of dollars,they all contribute to the big picture.

As for opportunity, many people in both public and private sectors have access to tools that enable them to commit and conceal fraud:corporate credit cards,internal company data,or control over the budget.The combination of pressure and being exposed to such opportunities on a daily basis can create a strong temptation.But even with these two elements,most fraud still requires rationalization.Many fraudsters are first time offenders,so in order to commit an act most would regard as wrong,they need to justify it to themselves.

So why does fraud happen?While individual motivations may differ from case to case,the fraud triangle,a model developed by criminologist Donald Cressey,shows three conditions that make fraud likely:pressure, opportunity,and rationalization.Pressure is often what motivates someone to engage in fraud to begin with.It could be a personal debt,an addiction,an earnings quota,a sudden job loss,or an illness in the family.

If you ask people whether they think stealing is wrong,most of them would answer, Yes And yet, in 2013, organizations all over the world lost an estimated total of 3.7 trillion dollars to fraud,which includes crimes like embezzlement,pyramid schemes,and false insurance claims.This wasn't just the work of a few bad apples.The truth is that many people are susceptible not only to the temptation to commit fraud but to convincing themselves that they've done nothing wrong.

Intense attention to detail,the ability to take a step back and look differently,we want first responders to have the analytical skills of master art historians at least.Art trains us to investigate,and that's a real world skill if there ever was one.

Articulating the absence of a specific detail or behavior known as the pertinent negative is as critical as stating the details and behaviors that are present in order to treat the patient.And conspicuous absences are only conspicuous to eyes trained to look for them.Art teaches professionals across a wide spectrum of fields not only how to ask more effective questions about what cannot be readily answered,but also, and more importantly,how to analyze complex, real world situations from a new and different perspective,ultimately solving difficult problems.

What's this painting all about, anyway?That's when you, my trusty partner,hold me back,then I leave.You give Magritte a cup of coffee and keep grilling him to see if this painting would hold up in court.Viewers can provide a more detailed and accurate description of a situation by articulating what is seen and what is not seen.This is particularly important in medicine.If an illness is evidenced by three symptoms and only two are present in a patient,a medical professional must explicitly state the absence of that third symptom,signifying that the patient may not have the condition suspected.

Close study of art can train viewers to study thoroughly,analyze the elements observed,articulate them succinctly,and formulate questions to address the seeming inconsistencies.Scrutinizing the details of an unfamiliar scene,in this case the work of art,and accurately conveying any observable contradictions is a critically important skill for both people who look at x-rays and those who interrogate suspects.Let's interrogate this painting, shall we?Okay, Magritte, that's quite a little picture you've painted.But why aren't there any train tracks?Why no fire?What happened to the candles?Why doesn't the fireplace have a little tunnel for the train?It just comes straight through the wall.And the clock says it's about quarter to one,but I'm not sure the light that comes through the window at an angle says it's just past noontime.

Perched atop the mantelpiece are two candlesticks and a clock.Behind these objects is a large mirror that reveals an empty interior and only a partial reflection of the objects before it.The juxtaposition of the objects surrounding the moving train raises numerous questions for which there seem to be no apparent answers.Did I summarize the painting accurately or leave any details out?It's no big deal if you see something else in a painting,but what if we're both seasoned cops?I call you for back-up.You show up only to realize the two bank robbing ninjas I'd mentioned were actually six bank robbing ninjas with lasers.

Here, imagine you're a seasoned cop or a dedicated doctor,but also imagine you are at a museum and let's look at a painting.Rene Magritte's Time Transfixed of 1938 depicts a mysterious and complex interior that invites analysis not unlike that required of a patient's symptoms or the scene of a crime.A miniature train whose origin and destination are unknown is emerging from a fireplace,and the smoke from the locomotive appears to flow up the chimney as if from the fire that is conspicuously absent below.The eeriness of the scene is echoed in the empty living room,enhanced by wood-grain floors and decorative wall moldings to the right of the fireplace.

There's a prevailing attitude that art doesn't matter in the real world.But the study of art can enhance our perception and our ability to translate to others what we see.Those skills are useful.Those skills can save lives.Doctors, nurses, and law enforcement agents an use painting, sculpture, and photography as tools to improve their visual acuity and communication skills,which are critical during investigations and emergencies.If you're treating an injury,investigating a crime scene,or trying to describe either of those things to a colleague,art can make you better at it.