Competency: Accountability, Prudence and Commitment to Excellence
This domain really stuck out to me when I went through the list under professionalism. The reason is does so much is because of the word ‘accountability’. To be a successful physician, they need to display all of the qualities in this domain, but I think ‘accountability’ permeates through the most, all the way down to the Hippocratic oath. Obviously, physicians have a commitment to deliver optimal care to patients to the best of their ability, but they also have commitments to their patient’s families, colleagues and communities. The reason this quality sticks out to me is because it’s the quality I have prided myself on ever since my first job when I was seventeen years old.
My first job in high school was working at a Schlotzsky’s deli in Dayton, Ohio. I got a position making sandwiches and pizzas in the kitchen at minimum wage. As a teenager in high school, I was thrilled to be making any sort of disposable income, but there was always something about working on a team to provide a service to other people that always gave me a greater appreciation for that job than the pay. Schlotzsky’s Deli was a small-scale operation as opposed to the job I worked through most of college at Buffalo Wild Wings. I worked at the B-Dubs on Ohio State’s campus for almost five years. This was a large restaurant that would have anywhere from 30-60 employees working at one time depending on the night. This was my introduction to large-scale, team-based operations, similar to how a hospital operates. Every employee had a set collection of responsibilities depending on the job they were working that night, they had to be trustworthy that they could carry out their job or else the others around them and the service that we provided suffered for it. The top quality that I have prided myself on as an employee is that I am trustworthy and accountable to get my job done and then find ways to help those around me. I am a first-generation college student who grew up in a blue-collar home and was taught from early on the importance of having a job and letting people know that they can depend on you to get the job done. I don’t consider myself to be the smartest person in the room, I don’t make excuses and I don’t like a lot of pizzaz or flash. I am very much a nose-to-the-grindstone kind of individual, and that first developed from my parents and home life growing up. That mentality was validated and continued to grow during every job I have worked to this point. From when I started working at Schlotzsky’s Deli in high school, to the college job at Buffalo Wild Wings, when I was adjunct faculty at Columbus State, and I felt that continued to grow as I first hit the wards as a third-year medical student. I may not have all of the medical knowledge in the world, but I could always find ways to make a positive impact on the team, find ways to help others out and do my best when it came to my student responsibilities on the team. Even if my effort didn’t produce the best results, the team will always get 110% effort from me at the time, and then I will do what is necessary to improve so I can get better results next time. This mentality will certainly continue to carry over as a future intern and resident.
The aspect of professionalism that I hope to improve on in the future is better navigating those difficult situations with patients and their families. Going into internal medicine, I am going to be having difficult conversations with other people pretty often and the better I can get having these conversations not only will help me mentally process the emotional side of things for me, but most importantly help my future patients and their as much as possible. I hope to have senior residents, fellows and attendings that will be open to sitting down with me to reflect on these situations and give me their insights into how to better explore them with prudence and grace. I also hope to be able to listen to these senior members of the care team have those difficult conversations with others. I have also been a situational learner and I think that would really help to improve the way I go about those similar situations. That is my plan for improving my professionalism as I take this next step in my medical career.
Artifact 1: 
These are some of the positive comments on the CPAs from my heme 5 elective during my M4 year. I thought this was one of the rotations that I performed the best on and some of the comments showed how I stayed accountable to the rest of the team.
Artifact 2: 
These are some of the peer assessment comments from my anatomy group all the way back in the neuro block of M1 year. I can think these comments highlight my ability to work as part of a team and being there for other people.