As a medical professional, you have important jobs to do every day. From performing life-and-death surgeries to breaking bad news to the patient’s relatives. And these require specialized skills — skills that are honed with time and thorough training. A good time to start working on these skills is when you are doing an internship in a medical school. You have the opportunity to establish strong skills for your career in a medical school or even when you’re planning to enroll in an international medical school.
No worries if you’re currently working as a medical professional but haven’t developed those skills, this can be your fresh start. You can read this blog and start from tomorrow. There is no shame in being a better human being any time of your life.
Set high standards & maintain them: Impostor syndrome is a real problem for all of us. This job is really hard. I am not good enough for this job. Feedback is good, but if you do not do anything about it, you might lose your integrity. In the field of medicine, you need to hold onto high standards so people can trust you and come back to you without giving a second thought about your judgment. Make sure you improve your standards every day and hold up to those standards well.
Don’t just like your patients, love them: Your patients are the ones that put bread on your table. You need to respect that. If you only like your patients, you will only offer your service to an extent, but loving them will create a bond that will be mutually beneficial for both. You can advise them with ease and they will listen as a friend.
Be more kind and empathize with your patients: As a medical professional, you out of all people need to realize the value of time. You can sacrifice a bit from your me-time just to take care of your patient who’s in dire need of your attention. You can be more kind, more understanding by being a great listener towards your patients. Connecting on a human level with your patients will only make it easier for patients to take-in the treatment that you have devised for them even if the procedure is painful.
Being a doctor is hard, but the field is blessed with a ton of resources and support to help you get better at it every day. The only way you can really fail is if you stop trying, and the most common reason to stop trying is burnout. So: hold yourself to a high standard that empowers you to take others’ feedback as formative rather than judgmental, care about your patients as people (especially when it is difficult to do so), and protect your personal life so that you can continue to give of yourself to others. That is the wisdom I have gained, such as it is.
Call WUSOM today at 1-869-466-1220/6157 for information about earning a Caribbean medical degree. You can also complete our quick online contact form today.