Seeking the Pearl
October 1, 2008 by dr. lam
I go to many meetings throughout the entire year to learn more about my field and to keep giving you the very best that I possibly can. I hear oftentimes from my colleagues, “Boy, I didn’t learn a single thing at this meeting. It was a complete waste of time.” Even though I would say that each meeting could be judged by the quality of the speakers and the organizer who put it together, there is always something that we can get from a meeting or an encounter. Actually, one of the best meetings that I have attended (and lectured at) was this past weekend in St. Louis. It was simply fantastic, and I got a lot out of the lectures as well as the interaction with other faculty members during the course.
Whatever the course is, I am always looking for the little “pearl” that can effectively change my practice for the next 30 years. I look at the fact that if I can attain one small idea, the dividends that such a small bit of knowledge can have on a single patient and then compounded over the many years to come can be quite dramatic in scale ultimately.
I always say a weak mind says, “I didn’t learn anything.” A great mind says, “I am so happy that I learned one small thing that will change my practice.“ Today, attaining CME (continuing medical education) credits mandates not just having a physician attend a course but asking at the end of the course what did you get out of it and how will that change your practice? These are the things that I constantly look for when I am at a meeting.
In life, we tend to always focus on the negative from an experience or how limited that experience was for us. Perhaps we should focus on the small thing that was positive and how that small idea will change the way we think and behave for the coming years.
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