Empowering Health on National Doctors’ Day
The biggest decision of my life was remarkably mundane. As a youth set to graduate school at age seventeen, with no burning passion for a particular career, I had five slots on my university application to list my preferred courses. Coming from a medical family, I put medicine at the top. I wasn’t emotionally invested though, I knew the entry criteria were demanding and I’d more likely end up doing engineering. Ironically, software engineering was my second choice, even back then I had a strong affinity to technology.
Practicing as a medical doctor remains one of the greatest privileges of my professional life. Sometimes it felt like trench warfare, when we were struggling to meet demand in emergency on a busy evening. I made some of my closest friends there, and those friendships included the nursing, allied health and clerical colleagues who were on the front line with me. Other times brought intense joy, as I participated in the miracle of birth with a new family. Obstetrics was one of my most satisfying terms, as I took a healthy person through a normal physiological transformation, and generally finished up with happy ending. Others still brought heartache, informing families of the passing of their loved ones. It was in the practice of medicine that I found passion and purpose. And it was there that I learned the importance of teamwork in delivering outcomes that matter.
Today is National Doctors’ Day, a tradition that has been observed for 84 years in the US. No, it isn’t a public holiday for medical practitioners. The work in health is never done–there’s always a shift working around the clock, 365 days a year. Even still, it is a day to reflect and give thanks to the doctors who give their energy to delivering great healthcare today, and improving the field for tomorrow. Where outcomes are often delivered in spite of technology, rather than because of it. Where a system, designed to facilitate care, can instead be a hindrance.
If we are to truly make progress toward better health outcomes, let’s shift our aspiration from the Triple Aim to the Quadruple Aim. Let’s acknowledge that a great health system is built on the back of an engaged, empowered, and productive workforce. Let’s make sure that our providers have the systems and tools at hand to support the communication, collaboration and measurement so integral to delivering modern care.
To all my medical colleagues on National Doctors’ Day, I want to say a very heartfelt thank you. The work you do is vital, and the impact that you have on the lives of patients and loved ones is profound. Thank you for your passion, purpose, and energy!
