Thank you, my fellow hospitalists,
For being compassionate, and brave, and bold,
For being an advocate for the young and the old,
For every transfer accepted, from near or far,
For every page that you answered, while you drove your car,
For the diuretics and the steroids,
For the antibiotics and the crystalloids,
For every sepsis order set,
For every CDI query you get,
For being there for your patients, whenever you can,
For every safely executed discharge plan,
For every peer-to-peer that you have done,
For every code that you have run,
For every line that you placed,
For every worry you erased,
For every conversation that drained your soul,
For treating every patient as a whole,
For every meeting you attend,
For every follow-up you recommend,
For every error you have caught,
For every trainee you have taught,
For every jarring, ruthless day,
For every kind, comforting word you say,
For every consult you have called,
For every death that you have stalled,
For every diagnosis you have nailed,
For looking inward when you failed,
For never walking out,
For braving all your doubts,
For being brilliant every day,
Even when you’re not okay.
Thank you for the work that you do,
The future is waiting for you!
Dr. Rafiq
Dr. Rafiq is a board-certified internal medicine physician working as a hospitalist for Sound Physicians at Ascension Via Christi Hospital Wichita in Wichita, Kan. He is the president of SHM’s Kansas Chapter.
Thank You, My Fellow Hospitalists is Dr. Rafiq’s submission for the National Hospitalist Day HM Voices contest.