Physicians can choose to nurture their human side

A keynote address to Gold Humanism Honor Society Induction Ceremony, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA. As an intern, I was assigned to 9 weeks over the year on the bone marrow transplant inpatient unit.  It was medically fascinating but emotionally draining and anxiety provoking.  I began to get nauseated going to work because I was having such a hard time with the rotation.  As I sank deeper into anxiety and self-doubt as patient after patient died or had terrible complications, I met a patient who forever changed my attitude towards humanism in medicine, and I’d like to tell you our story. Her name was Carol. She was a 55 year old with metastatic ovarian cancer with a sparkle in her eyes despite being on clinical trial for BMT. I met her several weeks into her “hail mary” experimental treatment and things were not going well.  But, Carol was my patient, so I put my head down and plugged away.  I was increasingly arriving to work anxious and dreading what each day would bring.  I had a hard time girding myself to see her each day. Continue reading ... Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how.
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tags: Physician Primary care Source Type: blogs