This week, Dr. Don Berwick digs into his past experience as a caregiver to answer a question from Gwendolyn Dean, MD: "What's your greatest legacy as a pediatrician?"
Having trouble viewing this video? Watch it on YouTube.
In his answer, Dr. Berwick talks about the impact of a physician in a patient's life. In his commencement speech for Harvard Medical School's class of 2012, he talks about the impact of another patient, named Isaiah.
"There is a way to get our bearings. When you're in a fog, get a compass. I have one — and you do too. We got our compass the day we decided to be healers. Our compass is a question, and it will point us true north: How will it help the patient?" You can read the full speech here.
Make sure to check back next week, when Dr. Berwick offers tips about how to better communicate with patients. Berwick, President Emeritus and Senior Fellow at IHI and Former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, answers one of your questions every week in our new blog series, “Ask Berwick.” You can catch up on previous "Ask Berwick" Q&A's here.
Do you have a question? Join the conversation and "Ask Berwick." Tweet @IHIOpenSchool using #AskBerwick, email openschool@ihi.org, or comment on Facebook.
