Pump the brakes on your week and take 10 minutes to make your life as a surgeon just a little better…
This week on the mini-podcast we are welcoming back orthopaedic trauma surgeon Phil Stahel. He discusses one of the concepts of his book: knowing your janitor’s name. This concept originates from a quest to be more empathic to patients. Studies show that medical students work towards proficiency and being technically excellent, but lose empathy in their 3rd year of medical school. Erosion of empathy occurs unless we’re aware and mindful.
So, why do we need to know our janitor’s name?
- It’s a good indication of our empathy levels – it’s like a marker.
- It will allow us to understand our patients better and understand their feelings even if we don’t agree with them.
- We’re more likely to understand their story, allowing us to choose the right procedure for the right patient at the right time.
- Lastly, it improves our customer satisfaction scores.
So, do you know your janitor’s name? … Start today and PRACTICE!
Guest: Philip Stahel, MD, FACS
Phil Stahel is the Chief Medical Officer for the Mission Health system in North Carolina and Professor of Surgery at East Carolina University, Brody School of Medicine. He is a board-certified academic trauma surgeon who trained at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, and at Charité University Medical Center in Berlin, Germany. Phil is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the open-access, peer-reviewed journal Patient Safety in Surgery (www.pssjournal.com) and the editor of several textbooks in the field of surgical patient safety, including Patient Safety in Surgery (2014), Blood, Sweat and Tears – Becoming a Better Surgeon (2016), Surgical Patient Safety: A Case-based Approach (2018), and Textbook of Polytrauma Management (2022).