The Feynman Technique in Medicine: Mastering Complex Concepts

Richard Feynman was a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, but he was most famous for his nickname: "The Great Explainer." He believed that if you couldn't explain a concept in simple terms, you didn't understand it.

In medicine, we hide behind jargon. We say "idiopathic" instead of "we don't know." We say "iatrogenic" instead of "we caused it."

The Feynman Technique is a powerful mental model for surgeons. It forces you to strip away the jargon and expose the gaps in your own understanding. It is the ultimate tool for Viva preparation and patient consent.

The 4 Steps of the Feynman Technique

Step 1: Choose a Concept

Pick a topic you think you know.

• Example: "The screw home mechanism of the knee."

Step 2: Teach it to a Child (or a Medical Student)

Write down an explanation using plain English. No Latin. No eponyms.

• Bad: "External rotation of the tibia occurs during the final degrees of extension due to the larger surface area of the medial femoral condyle."
• Feynman: "The inner wheel of the knee is bigger than the outer wheel. So when the knee rolls forward to straighten, the outer wheel finishes first, and the inner wheel keeps rolling a bit longer. This spins the shin bone outward and locks the knee straight."

Step 3: Identify the Gaps

When you try to explain it simply, you will get stuck. "Wait, why does the medial condyle being larger cause rotation?" or "Is it the shape or the ACL tension?"

• The Gap: This is where your knowledge is fragile. This is where you would fail the Viva if the examiner probed deeper.
• The Fix: Go back to the source material (textbooks, papers) and fill the gap until you can explain that specific part simply.

Step 4: Simplify and Create Analogies

Refine your explanation. Create a mental hook.

• Analogy: "Bisphosphonates are like gum on the shoe of the osteoclast (the bone-eating cell). It sticks them to the bone so they can't move and eat."

Application 1: The Viva Exam

The Viva is not a test of what you know; it's a test of how you communicate what you know.

• The Scenario: Examiners act like "ignorant peers." They ask simple questions. "Why did you use a plate?"
• The Fail: "Well, according to the AO principles of absolute stability..." (Boring, memorized).
• The Pass: "The bone is broken into two simple pieces. I need to squeeze them together so they don't move. A plate allows me to compress the two ends." (Simple, principled).

Action: Practice your viva answers using the Feynman technique. If you stumble, you don't know it.

Application 2: Patient Consent

Informed consent requires patient understanding. Using medical jargon is not just bad communication; it is legally risky.

• Jargon: "We will perform a subacromial decompression and acromioplasty to alleviate the impingement."
• Feynman: "There is a bone spur on the top of your shoulder blade rubbing on your rotator cuff tendon, like a rock in your shoe rubbing on your heel. I am going to shave down that spur to give the tendon more room to move."

Application 3: Surgical Technique (Mental Rehearsal)

Can you explain the steps of a procedure to a junior resident without looking at a book?

• "First, I incision..." -> "Where exactly? Why there?"
• "Then I find the plane..." -> "What two muscles are you separating? What nerve is nearby?"
• If you can't explain the why of every step, you are just a technician, not a surgeon.

Conclusion

Complexity is often a mask for confusion. True mastery is simplicity. Use the Feynman technique to expose your ignorance before the patient or the examiner does.

"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool." - Richard Feynman

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