Becoming a Better Physician

This book shares physicians’ stories, both challenging to read and easy to celebrate, to encourage the reader to reflect upon their own stories and by doing so, become a better physician. These illuminating and revealing essays have been divided into six chapters, each with its own theme: Learning and Training, Career, Caregiving, Physician as Patient, Personal Growth, and Love and Loss. There are thirty-nine essays, each covering a different aspect of the theme of their chapter. An author in Learning and Training relates the difficulties and successes they had in their marriage throughout their residency and how it has affected them as a physician. Career reveals the story of a doctor who dealt with employer retribution over publicly expressing his views on healthcare, and another who questions what “work-life balance” really means. In Physician as Patient, we are reminded that doctors have strengths and weaknesses and are human. Becoming a Better Physician is a beautifully written insight into the lives of the physician authors that encourages the reader to reflect on their own story, embrace vulnerabilities, forgive shortcomings, celebrate resilience, and build community. This volume will be an enlightening read for physicians, future physicians, and anyone interested in learning about the physician’s point of view.