A few weeks ago, I asked a physician, “what are 3 qualities that you feel make a great doctor?” He answered with clinical intelligence, being able to apply the clinical intelligence, and being an empathetic communicator. Today, we talked a lot about empathy and the importance it holds for the physician-patient relationship. I learned that empathy is being able to feel with people. Meaning we listen, we connect, and we share in pain with them. One of the things I want to implement in my life in order to become a more empathetic person (within and outside of the healthcare setting) is to be a better question asker. I want to be able to have conversations that revolve around others and help me get to know others, rather than just talking about myself, so that when I find myself in a conversation about a medical error, I am… Continue reading →

As a first year medical student, I was always taught to not “chase the zebras.” As we were trained to think of broad differential diagnoses, we were also taught to not get locked down on a rare disease. However, today during the Lewis Blackman video, one piece of advice they gave was to always ask yourself, “what’s the worst it could be?” It is part of what it means to have mindfulness – the ability to reevaluate your prior diagnosis and double-check or second-guess yourself. I agree that asking what the worst possible outcome for the patient might be will more likely ensure higher quality care for the patient, but what if the worst possible outcome is the zebra? Am I supposed to be a physician that always assumes the patient has the super rare disease, or to go with the most likely disease? As I reflect today, I… Continue reading →