To Be a Great Doctor
I titled this post what kind of doctor do you want to have, because I have been thinking about what kind of doctor I want to be.  I am in my junior year here at Tech and medical school is just around the corner.  During my medical school years, I will learn a lot about how to be a doctor.  However, I want to make sure that I establish what kind of doctor I want to be personally, ethically and morally now, so that I never loose track of who I want to be.  Like in the scene in Patch Adams I posted, would you rather have a doctor who knows her medical background backwards and forwards but is a prick or one who is nice and may not know as much?  I say why can’t we have both.  Why can’t I be a doctor who treats everyone like they are my best friends and knows medicine very well.  This is what kind of doctor I strive to be and I hope I never loose sight of that.

I know that you may say that most of the doctors you know are nice and know their stuff.  However, I know doctors who seem very nice to their patients, but are horrible to the people who work for them and are around them.  I have heard stories of doctors who treat their nurses like shit.  Doctors who give their nurses meaningless tasks just because they are nurses and work for the doctors.  I have heard stories of doctors who are womanizers and doctors who are hard to get along with all around.  From my experience I have learned people work best as teams, and  teams work best when they work together and feel welcome.  The doctor I have been shadowing gave me some great advice.  She told me, “The secret to being a good doctor is to find a good nurse”.  What I took from that was to be a great doctor you need to surround yourself with people who want to work with you and want to make a great team.  I want to remember that when I become a doctor.  I also don’t want to be a “prick” doctor.  I want to make sure every patient feels welcome to talk to me about anything.  In some ways I want them to feel like I am part of their family and that they know when they need something from me medically I will do my best to help them.  I also want my patients to feel like I will be able and beyond capable to help them.  So, do I think I can be a compassionate doctor who is damn good at what she does?  Hell yes, and I hope to never forget that.