Traits Of A Good Health Professional
by Dan Jones, M.D.
Luke 18:9-14
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about[a] himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
Most of us can only imagine the confidence it must take to open the chest of a young baby, take the tiny heart in your hands and cut and sew to make it whole. Even after years of practicing medicine myself, I stand in awe of my colleagues who perform these difficult heart surgeries in tiny infants. It requires tremendous confidence in one’s own skills.
For many years, the person performing pediatric cardiovascular surgery in our medical center was Dr. Bobby Heath. I often marveled when I would see Bobby hold one of those tiny babies in his large hands. His many years of training and experience prepared him for performing the delicate operations on those tiny hearts of those tiny children, but each time he raised the scalpel, it took huge confidence to make the incision.
For all of us in the health professions, gaining confidence in our skill and judgment is necessary to become competent caregivers. The training that provides that confidence, though, can rob us of our needed humility. If that confidence is not appropriately balanced with humility, we not only are obnoxious to our patients and colleagues, we can make poor medical judgments.
Bobby was held in the highest esteem in our medical center. Many of us thought he had no limitations in his abilities. But Bobby never allowed his confidence or our confidence in his abilities to block his natural humility or impede his judgment. Though he took on very difficult cases for management himself, when a case was complex beyond what Bobby and his team should manage, he would guide the family to a nationally recognized center for that type of problem. His confidence allowed him to save many lives, his humility was essential in saving lives, as well.
Lord, protect me from arrogance. Balance my confidence with humility.
Dan Jones, M.D., MACP, FAHA, a board-certified Internist, a former medical missionary to Korea, professor of medicine at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, Dean of the School of Medicine, and Chancellor of the University of Mississippi until 2015. Dr. Dan Jones is a member of CMDA.
Dr. Jones welcomes any comments or questions about what he has written and can be reached at - djones@umc.edu
Rounds with the Master, Spiritual Pearls from the Great Physician Devotionals are released every Monday and Thursday.
Photo by hessam nabavi on Unsplash
