“It is not enough for the physician to mean well: the physician must know enough to do well. In no way should the advance of scientific medicine blunt the humanitarian approach to the patient.”
A compassionate presence is transformative and healing. As a nursing student, I often considered the unique role I played. I was not essential staff. I was responsible for my patient(s) but not ultimately so. I had more time than the staff nurses. With this time, I loved to sit by the patient bedside, chatting and simply being a supportive presence. I tried to remind myself to soak in these moments, learn from them, reflect on them, because as a working professional the time allotted for such interactions would be more limited. Hearing stories about third- and fourth-year medical students seems like it may be a similar experience.
But the question really is how can I maintain that humanistic touch even as a practicing physician? I truly love and really live for the relational dimension of this profession. Will I have that gift of time to develop the patient-doctor relationship? I think I must choose to live compassion with whatever amount of time I am given with the patient and find a practice (or develop one ☺) that allows me to be the physician I desire to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment