Hello Aspiring Physicians,
I apologize for the delay or gap since my last post. We were having some technical difficulties but we are back up and running now. I was able to take a nice vacation with my family over the summer which was much needed. When I returned from vacation, I picked up my practice exactly where I left it – super busy. I am privileged to be in a position where I have a physician assistant to help me in clinic and in the OR. So he will see patients in clinic as well as me which is great because he can sign individuals up for surgery and sometimes I will not meet those patients until the day of surgery. I am not a huge fan of that because some patients are not comfortable meeting their surgeon right before surgery. I prefer to sit down with patients in clinic, in a comfortable environment where they can get to know me and ask any questions regarding their surgery, rehab, and we can go over concerns or questions that they might have.
But it just turned out that when I came back from vacation my surgery week happened to be filled with patients that I would be meeting the day of surgery. And something amazing happened. I would say out of the 15 surgeries that I did that week, approximately half of those patients I would be meeting for the first time. Were they nervous? Yes. Were they anxious? Yes. But after talking with them in Preop, they used these golden words – “I trust you.” Wow. Really. I just met you and now we are going to take you back to the OR suite, put you to sleep, and make an incision on your body.
To me, those words are powerful in everyday life. But as a surgeon, coming from a patient, those words are elevating, enlightening and inspiring. “I trust you.” I was fortunate at the end of that week to be able to reflect on that and how that made me feel as a surgeon. This is why I do what I do. To take care of people to the best of my ability. To take care of people as if they are my family. I promise that once you hear your patient say those words – you will remember that moment. This is the good part of medicine. Hearing those words are worth the 14-15 years of training; the late nights studying or lack of sleep, the exams, the uncertainty, the anxiety, missing family and friends’ milestones whether its holidays, birthdays or weddings. Once you hear those words, stop and let it sink in and smile because you are doing a great job.
Happy to back.
As always keep grinding and smiling.
Your success is my success.
Sincerely,
Your Med Mentor
