Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Why is this physician here? Because of connection.

Beverly A. Zavaleta, MD
Physician
December 30, 2016
Share
Tweet
Share

Why am I here? It’s already a half hour past the end of my 12-hour hospitalist shift, and I’m hustling to finish admitting a new patient from the ER. Once I finish, I still need to see patients at another facility before I finally wrap-up for the night and head home. Staying late is a professional courtesy for tonight’s nocturnist nurse practitioner. Nocturnist mid-level practitioners are a unique breed of medical rock star, not only because they choose to work at night, but also because they recognize when they need to call the on-call doctor and when they don’t. So even though I’m on call tonight, I know that I won’t hear from her unless there is a critical need. The least I can do is finish this admission.

Why am I here? I’ve been on call for new admissions today, and it’s been a madhouse of the season’s pneumonia, influenza, and the usual parade of cardiac complaints. The other doctor working with me this week took a few new consultations from the neurosurgeon and orthopedist to ease my load. I text him a quick thank you, complete with dorky emoticons, and ask him if his wife has found them a new house yet. He goes home a little earlier than me today, to rest up for his on-call day tomorrow.

Why am I here? I pause outside the door of my patient’s hospital room, hand resting on the door handle, waiting to deliver life-altering news. I am keenly aware that I am experiencing the last moment of life as he knows it. The pause seems impossibly infinite, and the burden of his illness tries to burst from my chest. He smiles cheerily at me as I enter, but his wife can see the truth immediately when she meets my eyes.

Why am I here? Driving home, I’ve reached a dark stretch of highway between towns, where your cell service drops and you fly past fields of sorghum and sleeping 18-wheelers. My mind returns to contemplating why I continue to practice this messy art of medicine.

I am here because of connection.

Business visionary Seth Godin says, “connection is the scare resource.” In the fast-paced world of hospital medicine, connection can, indeed, feel scarce — leaving us isolated, drained and unhealthy. I am fortunate that my hospitalist team is connected: connected to our patients and to one another. We have worked harder, longer or later because the patient needed it. We have traded shifts or worked more in order to make each other’s lives better. We have had babies and had cancer. We have traveled to tropical islands for vacation, and traveled across the globe to bury our parents. We have gotten married, and gotten invasive procedures. We have worked near our breaking point, while knowing that we will not break. We are held together, holding on to each other.

We choose to be here because of this connection. We realize that we cannot practice good medicine if we aren’t caring for each other, and for our patients, through authentic connection.

How can we initiate this connection? How can we maintain this connection?

Connection is nurtured and sustained when we open ourselves more, share more, engage more and listen more. As counterintuitive as it sounds, if we extend more, not less, of our energy to patients and peers, then connection is fostered and energy is generated not depleted. Connection allows us to bring more of ourselves to the patient, to the encounter, to our colleagues and to the moment. Connection generates synergy and allows us to create something larger than ourselves, something truly great.

Why am I here? I am here for connection.

Beverly A. Zavaleta is a hospitalist.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

What CME isn't doing today to align and empower patient outcomes

December 29, 2016 Kevin 0
…
Next

The case against a surgery volume pledge

December 30, 2016 Kevin 4
…

ADVERTISEMENT

Tagged as: Hospital-Based Medicine, Hospitalist

Post navigation

< Previous Post
What CME isn't doing today to align and empower patient outcomes
Next Post >
The case against a surgery volume pledge

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

  • A physician’s addiction to social media

    Amanda Xi, MD
  • How a physician keynote can highlight your conference

    Kevin Pho, MD
  • Chasing numbers contributes to physician burnout

    DrizzleMD
  • The black physician’s burden

    Naomi Tweyo Nkinsi
  • Why this physician supports Medicare for all

    Thad Salmon, MD
  • Embrace the teamwork involved in becoming a physician

    Nathaniel Fleming

More in Physician

  • When cancer costs too much: Why financial toxicity deserves a place in clinical conversations

    Yousuf Zafar, MD
  • The hidden rewards of a primary care career

    Jerina Gani, MD, MPH
  • Why doctors regret specialty choices in their 30s

    Jeremiah J. Whittington, MD
  • 10 hard truths about practicing medicine they don’t teach in school

    Steven Goldsmith, MD
  • How I learned to love my unique name as a doctor

    Zoran Naumovski, MD
  • What Beauty and the Beast taught me about risk

    Jayson Greenberg, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The human case for preserving the nipple after mastectomy

      Thomas Amburn, MD | Conditions
    • Nuclear verdicts and rising costs: How inflation is reshaping medical malpractice claims

      Robert E. White, Jr. & The Doctors Company | Policy
    • IMGs are the future of U.S. primary care

      Adam Brandon Bondoc, MD | Physician
    • Why I left the clinic to lead health care from the inside

      Vandana Maurya, MHA | Conditions
    • Why doctors must fight for a just health care system

      Alankrita Olson, MD, MPH & Ashley Duhon, MD & Toby Terwilliger, MD | Policy
    • How doctors can think like CEOs [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • Health equity in Inland Southern California requires urgent action

      Vishruth Nagam | Policy
    • How restrictive opioid policies worsen the crisis

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • Why primary care needs better dermatology training

      Alex Siauw | Conditions
    • Why pain doctors face unfair scrutiny and harsh penalties in California

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • How a doctor defied a hurricane to save a life

      Dharam Persaud-Sharma, MD, PhD | Physician
    • What street medicine taught me about healing

      Alina Kang | Education
  • Recent Posts

    • Why doctors must fight for a just health care system

      Alankrita Olson, MD, MPH & Ashley Duhon, MD & Toby Terwilliger, MD | Policy
    • Affordable postpartum hemorrhage solutions every OB/GYN can use worldwide [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • When cancer costs too much: Why financial toxicity deserves a place in clinical conversations

      Yousuf Zafar, MD | Physician
    • Psychiatrist tests ketogenic diet for mental health benefits

      Zane Kaleem, MD | Conditions
    • The hidden rewards of a primary care career

      Jerina Gani, MD, MPH | Physician
    • Why physicians should not be their own financial planner

      Michelle Neiswender, CFP | Finance

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 1 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The human case for preserving the nipple after mastectomy

      Thomas Amburn, MD | Conditions
    • Nuclear verdicts and rising costs: How inflation is reshaping medical malpractice claims

      Robert E. White, Jr. & The Doctors Company | Policy
    • IMGs are the future of U.S. primary care

      Adam Brandon Bondoc, MD | Physician
    • Why I left the clinic to lead health care from the inside

      Vandana Maurya, MHA | Conditions
    • Why doctors must fight for a just health care system

      Alankrita Olson, MD, MPH & Ashley Duhon, MD & Toby Terwilliger, MD | Policy
    • How doctors can think like CEOs [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • Health equity in Inland Southern California requires urgent action

      Vishruth Nagam | Policy
    • How restrictive opioid policies worsen the crisis

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • Why primary care needs better dermatology training

      Alex Siauw | Conditions
    • Why pain doctors face unfair scrutiny and harsh penalties in California

      Kayvan Haddadan, MD | Physician
    • How a doctor defied a hurricane to save a life

      Dharam Persaud-Sharma, MD, PhD | Physician
    • What street medicine taught me about healing

      Alina Kang | Education
  • Recent Posts

    • Why doctors must fight for a just health care system

      Alankrita Olson, MD, MPH & Ashley Duhon, MD & Toby Terwilliger, MD | Policy
    • Affordable postpartum hemorrhage solutions every OB/GYN can use worldwide [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • When cancer costs too much: Why financial toxicity deserves a place in clinical conversations

      Yousuf Zafar, MD | Physician
    • Psychiatrist tests ketogenic diet for mental health benefits

      Zane Kaleem, MD | Conditions
    • The hidden rewards of a primary care career

      Jerina Gani, MD, MPH | Physician
    • Why physicians should not be their own financial planner

      Michelle Neiswender, CFP | Finance

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Why is this physician here? Because of connection.
1 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...