Closing the gap

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I enjoy having medical students around— their eagerness to learn and their willingness to listen, even if driven by their desire for a good grade, make me feel like I am making a difference in the future of medicine. At the beginning of their rotation in pediatrics, I provide an introduction and assign them tasks to complete. My favorite line to them goes like this: “In medicine, there is always a gap between how things should be done and how things are being done. Our aim every day is to close that gap.”

I recognize that my efforts to close the gap are weak. Part of it is related to procrastination and laziness, but there is also a part of fear. As a powerless resident from another country, I fear acting differently or suggesting a different approach. I just want to follow the system. But is this the right thing for my patients? I ponder whether, by being lazy, afraid, or silent, I am contributing to longer hospital stays, antibiotic resistance, or increased healthcare costs. Medicine seems so broad and impossible to learn completely that we give up on studying or settle for repeating practices that we know are outdated or not evidence-based.

Feeling overwhelmed by these thoughts, I want to open the conversation for suggestions and ideas on how we can close gaps as residents. My first suggestion is to choose just one gap at a time. There are countless gaps in medicine. We don’t need to close them all, but change can be made one gap at a time. We should remember that medicine is an ever-evolving science, and if we don’t learn to adjust our practices now as trainees, there will be lower chances we will do it as attending pediatricians. Don’t be afraid to present your ideas or to ask questions. We need to remember that we are practicing medicine for the well-being of children, and that should be our primary goal. In this first note, I write to myself and other residents who want to be better. This post is a pledge to choose one gap and work towards closing it.

Feel free to comment and contribute your ideas to close gaps in medicine.