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

To graduating residents: You have already exceeded our expectations

Christina Shenvi, MD, PhD
Education
July 4, 2018
Share
Tweet
Share

A speech to graduating residents.

It’s an easy thing to count the number of seeds in an apple. In our residency class of 2018 we have nine seeds, and on your graduation, we scatter you across the country. You each carry amazing potential that we have hopefully helped nurture over your years here. You will be caring doctors kneeling by bedsides. You will be national leaders changing policies. You will be medical directors improving healthcare delivery. You will be hospital administrators making medical care more accessible. You will be teachers educating the next generation. You will be researchers, finding better ways to do emergency medicine.

You each have amazing potential.

But there something very intimidating and unsettling about being told your potential is great. Because now you carry the burden of either meeting that potential, or somehow feeling like you are a disappointment.

So on your graduation, I want to tell you this: That if you do nothing more in your careers than you have done already, that you are already caring doctors, team players, leaders, teachers, friends, mentors, helpers. You have already challenged us to be better educators, to be kinder and more patient. You have already made sacrifices for each other and for your patients. You have already performed heroic acts to save patients. You have already volunteered to teach medical students and your co-residents. You have already helped us improve care. You have already knelt at bedsides. You have already held the hands of frightened patients. You have already consoled parents who have lost a child. You have already comforted each other after devastating cases. You have already saved lives.

You have already done enough.

You have already made us proud.

You have already exceeded our expectations.

So I free you from the burden of high potential. I free you from the weight of great expectations. Anything more that you do in your career, do for the sheer joy and goodness of it. If seeing lightbulbs turn on in your learners makes you glow, then keep flipping those switches. If leading your group of fellow physicians allows your team to work better and more efficiently, then become that leader. Figure out what things make you excited to get up in the morning, and do more of them. Figure out what things make you angry and frustrated, and work to fix them. Figure out where there are needs that you have the skills to meet, and meet those needs.

Using your gifts for years to come will transform the world in more ways than you imagine.

It’s an easy thing to count the number of seeds in an apple. But it’s impossible to know how many apples are in a single seed.

You have already exceeded our expectations. But I have no doubt that you will continue to do so.

Christina Shenvi is an emergency physician.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

ADVERTISEMENT

Prev

Depression is personal to this physician

July 4, 2018 Kevin 1
…
Next

A patient dying of financial catastrophe

July 5, 2018 Kevin 2
…

Tagged as: Emergency Medicine, Hospital-Based Medicine

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Depression is personal to this physician
Next Post >
A patient dying of financial catastrophe

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Christina Shenvi, MD, PhD

  • 3 ways this physician experiences and creates joy

    Christina Shenvi, MD, PhD
  • How physicians can persevere through their current and future challenges

    Christina Shenvi, MD, PhD
  • Go gentle into that good night

    Christina Shenvi, MD, PhD

Related Posts

  • Residents need to learn medicine, not how to pass a test

    Eric W. Toth, DO
  • Teaching residents to teach will improve medical education

    Kristin Puhl, MD
  • An open letter to graduating medical students

    Lilian White
  • Advice for graduating medical students

    R. Lynn Barnett
  • A graduating medical student reflects on the last few years

    Akhilesh Pathipati, MD
  • How do we best handle the health concerns of our residents?

    Katie Fortenberry, PhD

More in Education

  • Dear July intern: It’s normal to feel clueless—here’s what matters

    Tomi Mitchell, MD
  • Why medical schools must ditch lectures and embrace active learning

    Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA
  • Why helping people means more than getting an MD

    Vaishali Jha
  • Residency match tips: Building mentorship, research, and community

    Simran Kaur, MD and Eva Shelton, MD
  • How I learned to stop worrying and love AI

    Rajeev Dutta
  • Why medical student debt is killing primary care in America

    Alexander Camp
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • America’s ER crisis: Why the system is collapsing from within

      Kristen Cline, BSN, RN | Conditions
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
    • FDA delays could end vital treatment for rare disease patients

      GJ van Londen, MD | Meds
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
  • Recent Posts

    • Addressing menstrual health inequities in adolescents

      Callia Georgoulis | Conditions
    • How to advance workforce development through research mentorship and evidence-based management

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • The truth about perfection and identity in health care

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • Civil discourse as a leadership competency: the case for curiosity in medicine

      All Levels Leadership | Physician
    • Healing beyond the surface: Why proper chronic wound care matters

      Alvin May, MD | Conditions
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions

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

Leave a Comment

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

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • America’s ER crisis: Why the system is collapsing from within

      Kristen Cline, BSN, RN | Conditions
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
    • FDA delays could end vital treatment for rare disease patients

      GJ van Londen, MD | Meds
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
  • Recent Posts

    • Addressing menstrual health inequities in adolescents

      Callia Georgoulis | Conditions
    • How to advance workforce development through research mentorship and evidence-based management

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • The truth about perfection and identity in health care

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • Civil discourse as a leadership competency: the case for curiosity in medicine

      All Levels Leadership | Physician
    • Healing beyond the surface: Why proper chronic wound care matters

      Alvin May, MD | Conditions
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions

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

Leave a Comment

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

Loading Comments...