Yesterday a classmate went to volunteer for a free health screening, where medical students (who know nothing) are allowed to take blood pressure, blood glucose levels, and calculate BMI. While volunteering, he met a woman in the "morbidly obese" category and told her that she should lose some weight. Immediately she began asking him questions like "What should I eat to lose weight?" "What diet should I go on?" etc. He was astounded that when he puts on that white coat, people believe he knows something, and trust him to give good advice. A simple garment creates what they call a "fiduciary relationship" based on mutual respect and trust. Not that the relationship is determined only by the white coat - but there is an inherent difference between being an undergrad, shadowing and "wanting" to be a doctor, and a medical student, who will be a doctor. Somehow suddenly we are different.
The privilege of that power is intimidating. At this point in medical school it feels like all the tangibles matter more - the sequence of the branches off the aorta or how g-protein cascades work - but there are moments when I realize becoming a physician is more about the intangibles. It's more about the unique relationship I will hold with my patients. I hope I continue to hold on to that.
I have had doctors I'd rather forgot, and doctors I wish I could see again. The difference between the good ones and bad ones is that the good ones look beyond the symptoms to see the person. Someday, many people will be fortunate to have you as a doctor.
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