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Personomics: Knowing Each Patient As a Person

Personomics

“It is much more important to know what sort of a patient has a disease than what sort of a disease a patient has.” – Sir William Osler

Personomics is a blog series featuring essays from residents and clinical fellows about their experiences knowing each patient as a person. The term personomics recognizes that understanding the unique attributes and life experiences of each person and the environmental, cultural, behavioral and economic factors that influence an individual’s life are as important to patient care as genomics, proteomics, pharmacogenomics and other “–omics.” Practicing personomics makes patients feel cared for and heard; provides critical information that helps establish a diagnosis and tailor a patient’s treatment plan to the individual; and allows physicians to derive greater meaning from their work, serving as an antidote to burnout and improving well-being.

Johns Hopkins residents and clinical fellows are invited to submit an essay to Personomics.

Note: When writing about patients, you must obtain informed consent from each patient or remove any names and patient-identifying details.