SHARING GRATITUDE
a good ham ?). On my holiday breaks from college and medical school , I would return home to help with the family business . Growing up , I got used to hearing the question , “ So you ’ re going to school to become a doctor ?” Every Christmas break was an opportunity to mingle with the beloved members of my hometown and loyal customers of our family business . To my surprise , many of them remembered when I was a toddler roaming the store . Between packaging ham and restocking sausage , I would run into customers talking about stents in their hearts , their most recent medical illness , etc ., among other trials in their lives .
I realized growing up that there were three recurring characteristics that customers wanted and valued in a business : someone who cares , someone who listens , and someone you trust . Of course customers wanted excellent products and services , but they also wanted to do business with someone who is kind and dependable . I came to learn that the reason that so many customers returned to our business year after year was because they had found someone who paid proper attention , who appreciated them .
As I began interacting with patients more and more nearing my clinical clerkships , I recognized several parallels between serving hometown customers and the patients that I encountered . I recognized that many of the same qualities our customers appreciate from our family business were found in good physicians . Some of the best preceptors and attending physicians I had the privilege of working with modeled these values in their everyday practices .
The patient who suffered a miscarriage wanted someone who cared . The patient with a trauma history wanted nothing more than someone they could trust to take good care of them . The patient with unexplained symptoms wanted someone who would finally listen to them . Our patients ( and customers of the health care system ) expect and deserve these same principles . Patients want physicians whom they can trust , who care about them as people , and who listen .
I ’ ve come to realize that I learned more from the family business than how to prepare holiday ham orders and make country sausage . These principles I learned from a young age are not only core memories but are skills that I hope to carry into my future practice as a physician . I am eager for someday soon when I can return to our family business where I will hear the question , “ So you ’ re a doctor now ?” – what a special , full circle moment this will be . I will be forever grateful for my family and friends , early supporters of my education , interactions and lessons learned from the family business , and the extensive support system I ’ ve gained along my journey . I have each of them to thank for the medical student I am and the physician I will become .
Maria Shields is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Louisville School of Medicine Trover Campus .
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