“I remember shadowing doctors when I was in college, and spent a lot of time with them in different specialties. I have to tell you, that I considered many careers and got lots of work experience, but I don't think I've ever seen a profession where anyone has to be on their “A” game all the time as much as doctors do!”
I asked for some further explanation, and was told about how impressive it was that doctors worked in such an intense field, constantly on the go, and how there was no room for ever being less than completely engaged in what they were doing. In fact, the phrase being on your “A” game traditionally applies to sports, where players and athletes have to be at their peak whenever they are on the field.
This statement really made me think, and reinforced to me something everyone in medicine already knows. We work in a tough and all-consuming arena. There are always a hundred things to do when you are in the “zone” of patient care. Everyone expects you to be at your best—other doctors, nurses, and most of all of course—our patients. We can't really go out and take a long walk outside, retreat and sit quietly in our office whenever we feel like it, or get regular periods during the day when we can calmly “switch off”.
I vividly remember reading something in a careers advice book when I was 16-years old in high school in England. It was a paragraph on being a doctor, and the last line read: This is a physically, mentally and emotionally-demanding job. All these years later, I can see how true that statement was. It's the job description, no matter where you are. This profession is certainly not for the faint-hearted. We are dealing with matters of life and death and meet people at very emotional and typically low points in their lives. Every patient, family, and staff member will acutely remember their brief interaction with you—and our performance and demeanor will reverberate in ways we often don't realize.
As I think about the trust that's placed in us as well, it really does ring true. We may work in a suboptimal and fragmented health care system, have terrible computer systems foisted upon us, and get bogged down in administrative work that makes us want to tear our hair out. So many physicians out there are jaded. But as ultimate professionals, the show must always go on. When it comes to patient care and what the general public expects of us: Being on our “A” Game is where we always need to be. No matter what.
Suneel Dhand is an internal medicine physician, author and speaker. He is the founder of DocSpeak Communications and co-founder at DocsDox. He blogs at his self-titled site, where this post first appeared.
