21 Jun Review of June 20th2012 Speaking Engagement with Docs
In case you didn’t check out the website for yesterday’s event, I had the honor and pleasure of being the keynote speaker for the Burnaby Division of Family Practice AGM and Dinner. For those of you who may not know what that is, here is the breakdown: this is a non-profit organization of the GPs in Burnaby. They are committed to making Burnaby “the healthiest place on earth”. If that has a familiar ring to it, it is because they were inspired by the Disneyland slogan 🙂
This is the morning after and I am still pretty overwhelmed with how wonderful things went last night. Let me tell you: it is not easy to make 70 local physicians laugh at themselves. At times, I thought I had lost the room only to realize later, based on their feedback, that I had made them think.
The topic was about encouraging those physicians to take even better care of themselves so that everyone benefits – their families, their friends, us (their patients) and of course the doctors themselves.
As much as it may sound like common sense, I think that it is tough for professionals to take good care of themselves. Think about it: they are considered experts and are asked questions everyday. They are sought out as people who fix us. It can be tough for an expert to realize that they themselves may need a helping or supportive hand.
I was a little nervous as I found out that the Mayor of Burnaby was going to be there. The Mayor cancelled last minute which was too bad, because I was looking forward to an introduction.
Seeing so many physicians all in one place as human beings instead of all-knowing oracles was a nice change of pace. They laughed, chatted, shared stories and more. When it was my time to give my presentation, I wanted to make sure that they know how valuable humanity can be in an office setting.
I reminded them of how scared and nervous we, as patients, can be when we come to see them. Let’s be honest, it is never about how wonderful life is as opposed to what ailment we may be facing now. I wanted them to realize that a smile from them or a kind word can go a long way to reassure us that we are in good hands, no matter what is going on with us. I remember my father sometimes having rushed through patients and it never sat well with me. I have been a patient who only got a minute of my doctor’s time and it didn’t match my health concern. I wanted a human being treating me like a human being.
The great news is that all the Burnaby GPs who were in attendance are pretty great docs. I know a good bunch of them personally as they have referred patients to my office. My sincerest hope is that they heard the messages:
1. be good to yourself because you deserve nothing less and because those who care about you and depend on you want you to be at your best
2. remember to be kind, compassionate and human .
All in all, it was a blast and I am so grateful for the opportunity and honor to speak to and with those who take care of us.