I am still struck by Brian Goldman’s TEDtalk. In fact, I couldn’t wait to share it with my incoming administrative chiefs, and they responded today that they will absolutely use it during our intern orientation. Thank you, Shelly, for sharing it with us. And if I could say anything to Dr. Goldman, I would thank him for his bravery.
Below is an excerpt.
“The redefined physician is human, knows she’s human, accepts it, isn’t proud of making mistakes, but strives to learn one thing from what happened that she can teach to somebody else. She shares her experience with others. She’s supportive when other people talk about their mistakes. And she points out other people’s mistakes, not in a gotcha way, but in a loving, supportive way so that everybody can benefit. And she works in a culture of medicine that acknowledges that human beings run the system, and when human beings run the system, they will make mistakes from time to time. So the system is evolving to create backups that make it easier to detect those mistakes that humans inevitably make and also fosters in a loving, supportive way places where everybody who is observing in the health care system can actually point out things that could be potential mistakes and is rewarded for doing so, and especially people like me, when we do make mistakes, we’re rewarded for coming clean.”
This really hits home. As an intern, there are few days that go by that I don’t feel inadequate, stupid, exhausted, assumed-to-be-stupid, or even completely overwhelmed at least once. I am also mindful enough to realize my perseverance on inadequacy is mostly self-imposed. I am ok with that. I have learned to live in the uncomfortable and fight like hell to make what is uncomfortable today my new comfort zone tomorrow for the sake of my patients’ wellness and my own growth as a physician and leader. With this fight comes mistakes. Thus, I appreciate this extraordinarily eloquent reminder of our humanity and of our shared experience; we are in this uncomfortable, often gut-wrenching, highly privileged profession together, and I so look forward to sharing and reinforcing this frameshift with my colleagues – my new mantra.
PS: thank you to the organizers and supporters of AELPS for this incredible opportunity. And thank you to the outstanding cohort who have taught me, inspired me, and hiked with me. I look forward to the final two days…and never want to leave beautiful Telluride!