Jeffrey McWilliams is an emergency physician who blogs at Advocates Of Excellence.
Have you ever really appreciated the silence? The true silence that transports you to the root of it all. Our lives are a perpetual hamster wheel, chasing aspirations with underlying motivations that I often don’t completely understand. Good intentions and acts of kindness, seemingly altruistic, have hidden motivations of affirmation or appreciation. Why do you do what you do? It seems so obvious on the surface, but like an onion …
Months ago, it was in the distance. International hints of a contagion, a virus in China. We heard it all too many times, desensitized by the occasional threats, conspiracy theories, and Hollywood depictions.
“It’s fiction. It could never happen to us.”
Fast forward to today, and it is staring us in the face with nostrils flaring. We are on the frontlines, fighting an enemy that has invaded every aspect of our life. …
What is life? It’s the cumulation of the daily processes all wrapped up into one, filling the void of each day. These processes coalesce hour by hour, filled with demands, expectations, current crisis, and bills to pay. Life is a full-contact sport, each hour brimming with all-encompassing activities, expectations, and trivial pursuits. We live every second to its fullest, squeezing every ounce of information and productivity only to repeat it …
It’s difficult to put into words the honor I feel as an emergency physician. Strangers invite you into their lives, trusting in your training, knowledge, and compassion as they battle crisis. We are involved in intimate details of triumphs and loss on a daily basis, sharing in tears of joy and sorrow as we fight and advocate for our patients. It’s a humbling calling that I’ll never take for granted. …
Do you ever have that “aha!” moment? That moment when a revelation hits you with such a level of intensity that your physical being is jolted. Attention is obtained as if a Louisville slugger or defibrillator pad made contact at an opportune moment. That moment of revelation when a crimson string interwoven through the fabric of your life makes a connection, transcending childhood, college, young adulthood, professional and personal relationships. …
We emergency physicians are often thrust into the frontline battles raging in society. The pain, blood, and emotions are so real, so thick and ever present, creating an undertone that is difficult to deny. We walk the corridors of our departments actively involved in life or death, where the span of mere millimeters might as well be miles as we explore wounds, clinical scenarios and presentations. How do we do …
I am an emergency physician, forever grateful of the responsibilities entrusted by my patients. This is a relationship I hold dear. As such, I’m an active participant in the war of life and death for our patients. I’m in the trenches with the best nurses, techs and EMS personnel holding the line as the battle continues. We have our victories and share our defeats, all in the name of what …
Medicine, what a noble profession. As the keepers of human health and longevity, we are entrusted with a huge but solemn responsibility. It’s an ancient artwork, passed through the generations from pre-antiquity, hand in hand from physician to physician. The Hippocratic oath ensuring that we first “do no harm” and commit ourselves to the honorable calling. We often hear “see one, teach one, do one” and so propagates the training …
I’m humbled by the honor to practice medicine. We have the opportunity to be frontline participants in an ever evolving cascade of events in the lives of others. Our decisions, directions, and split second actions have the ability to unite families, sustain breath or literally a beating heart. Although biased, I can’t think of many professions more fulfilling and honorable. There are issues and concerns, but they pale in comparison …
Sometimes the minuscule moment is the most relevant; the least anticipated becomes the most profound. Endless searches for wisdom and insight fade with each passing day, only to be shadowed by an unintentional conversation or event. Wisdom is profound in the simple, while often hidden, complicated or forgotten in the complex or intentional. This ironic phenomenon is as old as time, obvious in God’s creations and man’s discoveries. I’ve reached …
I’ve noticed, as I get older life seems to travel full circle no matter your path or destination. I find myself trying to teach my son Grant things that my father attempted to teach me not so long ago.
“Don’t do that, you’ll fall and hurt yourself, or try it this way, and the process will be much easier.”
There is that brief moment of acknowledgment often followed by scraped knees or …
I’m a physician, part of the enormous all-consuming machine called modern health care. This machine is driven by value-based best practice and end results. Literal life and death decisions are required daily, so naturally I become impatient when my son can’t decide between chocolate and vanilla or which movie to watch.
My cultivated Achilles’ heel of impatience has a tendency to interfere with daily interactions or decisions because of the dreaded …
We walk down the halls, time and time again, each encounter a new discovery, mystery, or typical presentation. As ED providers, we see new faces, entwined with “frequent flyers” that have become in a weird way part of the family. Our job is often loosely entangled with our identity and existence. It becomes hard to have dinner conversations without discussing therapies, changes in health care, Obamacare, or “unusual cases.” We …
I walk out of a room filled with emotion and despair. A battle lost but the war rages on. I’ve seen miracles, often only a daily basis. Life is precious but peculiarly fragile while resilient and strong. Every emergency provider understands the feeling after a patient has passed. It’s the unexplainable reverence and daunting silence as I put on the white coat. It’s the echoing footsteps that never go away …
As a goal-oriented individual, I pack my days with appointments, deadlines, and to-do lists. Unfortunately, the time I spend getting from one task to the next gets lost in my focus on end results — a common blindness of Westerners who measure success or achievement by results and not by how one “plays the game.” As parents, we teach our children it’s not whether you win or lose, but how …
Over the past year, I’ve read countless publications concerning the relationship of customer service and patient care. Many have alluded to the fact that customer service in health care is not only unfeasible, but also detrimental to patient care. As a huge proponent of customer service, it was quite natural to take a defensive stand, posturing against these “absurd accusations.” Over the years I’ve learned, quite often the hard way, …
I’ve noticed as I get older, life seems to travel full circle no matter your path or destination. I find myself trying to teach my son Grant things that my father attempted to teach me not so long ago. “Don’t do that, you’ll fall and hurt yourself.” Or, “Try it this way and the process will be much easier.” There is that brief moment of acknowledgment often followed by scraped …
How do you motivate and inspire? How do you create an environment where people are eager or excited about their daily work?
This question has created a multi-million dollar industry of motivational speakers, consultants, and higher education learning curriculum. I have to admit that I’ve been an avid pupil of the movement, focusing on others when the answer is literally staring me in the face each morning while brushing my teeth. …
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