Pep Talk

You have heard of the pep talk on sports talk or Dr.Lou on ESPN, well that exists in medicine also. Believe it or not its a sales pitch that the author of "The Little Red Book" could promote, even better because you are selling life and your continued existence! I had a partner once who I told you have to speak to folks as if they are your own family and he said thats poppycock you cannot let that emotion be involved in your decision making process! The point is if you don't than you never will have the empathy to be a truly great physician, that does not mean you can't be a success, the world is littered with successful but non empathetic Docs! Optimism is key, I  always give the family that ray of hope , its our one connection with spirituality.  One day I had an old farmer who I had to present open heart surgery too and the cardiologist and staff said he did not get it and was not to bright. My Dads family were farmers so I went to talk to this gentleman, he had his overalls and Dekalb hat on and some Mail Pouch in his front pocket . I sat down on the bed in his room and said listen here Mr.Jones let me talk to you about some plumbing you need done . Well he said shoot Doc , so I proceeded to tell him how I was gonna use a Black and Decker saw and open him up , do some plumbing to bypass his vessels cause the bridges were out ,close him up with coat hanger wires and see him back in 6 weeks to set him loose! I said 1 or 2 times in 100 you end up with dirt on your head instead of standing on it. He looks at me says  go get em Doc I get it now and off we went and he did wonderfully.This entire pep talk took 5 minutes of my time, but you get the point . While my colleagues threw around big medical vocabulary all they had to do was be honest and straight forward. The best Doctors in the world for this honesty are pediatricians because kids can see right thru the BS !!! T.Movie Doc    Tip for Today . Eat Blueberries they help your brain.