What kind of clinician do you want to be?

This is very common question that I would get ask upon meeting new people, to which I would reply jokingly, “a good one of course!”

Kidding aside, I never fully understood the qualities that make up a “great physician” until the Marseille Patient Safety roundtable.

When I first entered medical school I thought that I knew what qualities made up a great physician. Some of the most important ones that I wanted to emulate were being compassionate, dedicated, hard-working, and a leader in my community. However, as first, second, and third year of medical school passed me by, my focus was geared towards getting top grades, doing as many USMLE questions to do well on the boards, and showing up early and staying late to impresses my residents and attendings so that I would get awesome clinical evaluations. Most of it, I am ashamed to admit it, was for a… Continue reading →