Physicians put up walls. But they feel everything.

We sat in the office of the intensive care unit under fluorescent lights, both staring at computer screens covered in vital signs and labs. It was the summer of my second year of residency, and I spent it entirely in the intensive care unit. There were two of us on call at night. Half the nights we would spend shooting the shit about life, and the other half we spent running around trying to pretend like we knew what we were doing. One year as a doctor, and we were the front lines in the ICU with the sickest patients in the hospital. The learning curve is steep, to say the least. I could feel the pressure of that every day. I could also feel myself changing. The soft edges of my personality had ever so slightly started to harden. A change perhaps imperceptible to anyone but me, but I could feel it. “What do you mean?” he replied. “Do you think all this stuff we see changes us? Do you think we even feel anything anymore?” 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: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Physician Cardiology Critical Care Emergency Medicine Surgery Source Type: blogs