This is critical advice for doctors today: “You’ve gotta like your patients”
Although I didn’t think much of the statement when I first heard it from my residency director, now, nearly twelve years later, I realize its value. I learned so much during those three years. I learned to prepare for success prior to every procedure I started to avoid clumsily searching for needed equipment mid-procedure. I learned what an eternity of time I gained during an intubation if I could be calm and conscientious enough to pre-oxygenate the patient. I learned how to adjust the angle of the spinal needle when it met bone during a lumbar puncture. I learned a lot about how to give bad news (a skill I have not yet perfected). I learned to guard against hubris because I saw it hurt people.
Over the first decade of my career after residency, I have probably forgotten just as much as I learned. I have forgotten how to interpret invasive cardiac monitoring numbers. I have forgotten why IV calcium is a bad idea in the hyperkalemic patient on digitalis. I have forgotten how exactly to handle a shoulder dystocia during a delivery. I have forgotten the cutoff value between a positive and negative troponin (it does seem to change every month or so).
One strikingly basic dictum, however, seems to whisper to me daily as I continue my journey in clinical medicine.
“You’ve gotta like your patients.”
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Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Thomas Paine, MD Tags: Physician Emergency Source Type: blogs
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