The Secret To Caring For The Patient
by David Kim, MD
(taken from the latest CMDA Resident and Fellow Newsletter)
Many years ago, during my first-year medical school orientation at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn, New York, our dean quoted Dr. Francis Peabody, famed physician of the early 20th century, who stated in front of a group of Harvard medical students in 1927: “...the secret of the care of the patient is in caring for the patient” (JAMA. 88 (12): 877–882., emphasis added). It has stuck with me to this day. In this day and age, so overrun by politics, metrics, Press-Ganey scores, insurance, and profit margins, “caring for the patient” seems like a pipe dream more than a reality. At Beacon Christian Community Health Center (www.beaconcchc.com), we have tried to not only “care for the patient” within our own four walls, but also show and demonstrate, by our presence in our local hospitals and community here on Staten Island, how to do it even in the midst of New York City. In the process, I’ve sadly realized how countercultural “caring for the patient” really is in healthcare.
So what does it mean, as Christians entering or continuing in residency, to “care for the patient?” There are many answers I could apply to this question. Love does also include doing your very best at what you are training in. It is an act of love to do your best to use the training you have been given to care for your patients as best as possible. However, the one I’ll focus on here, for now, stems from the commandment Jesus gave us in John 13:34: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (NKJV). Jesus took all 800+ commandments of the Old Testament, which had been condensed into 10, and condensed them down into a single commandment, mirrored in other commandments He spoke in other passages: to love. Note that you are told to love one another “as [God has] loved you....” In other words, the “horizontal” love we are to have for everyone around us (and many secular people would not disagree with) actually has a source and a compass point in the vertical love we first have to acknowledge that comes from our relationship with Jesus Christ. If we understand God’s unconditional love for us, then especially as residents, who will have the most intimate relationships out of all the healthcare professionals in the hospital with patients, it is up to us to most clearly demonstrate to patients the compassion, honesty, care and genuineness that so defines Christ’s love for each of us. Whether it’s praying for a patient, or fixing a kinked IV line, or manually disimpacting an elderly lady with dementia, or discussing a bad diagnosis caringly with a patient and/or family—you live out who you are, and you are not simply doing something for the doing’s sake.
This doesn’t just apply to patients. This approach also extends to attendings, co-residents, interns (if you are an incoming senior resident of some sort) and students. It also applies to the nurses, MAs, clerks, janitors and everyone else you meet. I warn you, this will be hard, since as residents you are usually the recipient of abuse of some sort from just about everyone on that list I just gave you! However, if we are to live out John 13:34, then we need to keep plugged into our Source and let that define who we are and how we act and react to those around us.
THIS is the secret to caring for the patient—and everyone else around us, for that matter. It is your best tool for surviving attending rounds, handling long difficult days and remembering that we are, even in 2022, in a noble and unique calling that God has tapped you on the shoulder for. Below is the link to that famous 1927 Peabody article. Though a little long, and not strictly written for a religious audience, it is scary how true his words still are, almost 100 years later. Take the time to read it one day. The secret to caring for the patient in the 21st century is STILL caring for the patient. May we all care in such manner, knowing ourselves especially where our true compassion and love come from. May God bless each of you as you start or continue your journey.
From an incoming PGY-25,
David Kim, MD
https://depts.washington.edu/medhmc/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Peabody.html
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
