[William Osler photograph via wikipedia]

"It is much more important to know what sort of a patient has a disease than what sort of a disease a patient has."

William Osler

Osler was one of the four founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital. He established the practice of residency. Before Osler, med students could go on to be doctors without having seen a single patient!

Quote of the Day

[Engraved portrait of Oliver Wendell Holmes via wikimedia]

"The physician's task is to cure rarely; 
relieve sometimes; and to comfort always."

Oliver Wendell Holmes

After 150 years, medical school is still working on this. It makes me imagine what a medical school curriculum would look like if this was its guiding principle.

Quote of the Day

[Plato and Aristotle in The School of Athens via wikimedia]

"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play 
than in a year of conversation."

Plato

SP work is not always taken seriously because it looks like we're being paid to play. But I agree with Plato that "play" is a powerful & unique way to learn about oneself and others.

Quote of the Day

[The assumption of Mary via wikimedia]

"Empathy is the highest form of respect."

Lisa B. Marshall

I have yet to write a separate post about evaluating respect, but in the Feedback Hierachy post I wrote:

"Respect indicates an awareness of the patient as an individual worthy of consideration and dignity. For instance, respect includes things like validation, normalization, accommodation, reflective language and transparency. Respectful student doctors are non-judgmental, honest, don't interrupt, admit uncertainty, apologize when necessary, take responsibility, keep commitments, and don't make assumptions based on class, gender, sexuality or race."

But since empathy is one of my core values, I find Lisa B. Marshall's quote fascinating. What do you think?

Quote of the Day

[Portrait of Henry Ford via wikimedia]

"You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do."

Henry Ford

When I give students feedback about empathy or rapport, sometimes they respond by saying, "Oh, I'm so much better in clinic" or "I'm different with real patients" or "I don't do well when I'm being observed." But I can't give feedback on skills I don't observe.

Quote of the Day

[Portrait of Robert Louis Stevenson via wikimedia]

"Our business in life is not to succeed, 
but to continue to fail in good spirits."

Robert Louis Stevenson

This was obviously not written about the concept of SP work, but it could have been. On the best of days, our job is to allow students to fail in good spirits. That's where the learning happens.

Quote of the day

[Portrait of Pablo Picasso via wikimedia]

"Art is a lie which makes us realize the truth."

Pablo Picasso

Now replace "Art" with "A scenario." Discuss.