In 1991, General Norman Schwarzkopf faced an enemy more numerically larger than his Coalition forces. Worse, it had entrenched, stacking the odds even further.

                 “I learned many things from the study of the battle of Cannae that I applied to Desert Storm,” he noted in interviews following the victory.

                 During the Second Punic War (216 B.C., if your history is a little rusty), Hannibal Barca’s own coalition army encircled and annihilated eight Roman legions facing him on the field of Cannae. Outnumbered two to one, Barca still inflicted one of the greatest defeats in history.

                 Two thousand years later, General Schwarzkopf patterned his own tactics after those of the great Carthaginian general. He used a brother-general from the ancient past as his role model.

                 While it is extremely unlikely that you, as a HCP, will ever need to lead an elephant army across the Alps in winter, the concept of role models is still an important one.

                 All of us have someone in our pasts who have directly or indirectly inspired us. Perhaps it was a floral-scented nurse who held a frightened hand. A burly, battle-axe charge nurse who insisted to the wet-behind-the-ears doctor that ”her nurses” were not there to clean up our/my messes and sharps. Perhaps it was an elder-statesman physician who faced adversity with dignity, poise, and grace. It could even be the receptionist who greeted everyone with a smile and a “Good Mornin’, Suga-a,” even the grouches and grinches of our world. Some role models shake our world. Others lend it color and warmth.

                 One of my greatest role models today is both nameless and faceless to me. However, I still remember this junior faculty mentor from my Physical Diagnosis class in my second year of medical school.  He insisted that we treat our patients with respect, and give them ownership of their hospital rooms and their bodies. 

“You’ve already won,” he said. “You are fully clothed, your butt is not exposed, you got a good night’s sleep, ate what you wanted for breakfast, and you’re not in pain or frightened.”

“So be gracious in your victory. Knock on their door, and ask for permission to enter. Introduce yourself, and state your purpose. Explain what you are going to do to them. Ask for permission to examine them. Explain what you found. Describe the tests that they are going to have and what they will show. Bring them on board as a partner in their own heath care.”

“When you leave, say goodbye. Thank them. And lastly, ask them if they would like their door opened or shut. It’s the little controls you can give back to your patients that restore power and relieve their feelings of helplessness.”

While I cannot remember the teacher, the lesson learned colors my practice of medicine even today.

THE EXERCISE:

                 In the table below, the first column denotes various classes of role models. Think about someone in your own life who meets each classification. Place that name in the second column, just to the right.

                 Please note that it is completely in-bounds to list someone whose less-than-admirable traits influenced you. A run-in with a rampaging rude physician might encourage you to regain your kindness and patience, rather than appear so insanely red-faced and frothy-mouthed in public.

                 The last row is a freebee. Any name can go in there: a fictitious figure, a sports hero, your pet…anyone.

                 In the last column, place a few words to describe what you gained from this person.

Role Models

Class of Role Model	Name	What I learned from observing Role Model
In your Family
During your Education
Your Social Life (we’re assuming that you have one…)
Historical Figure (dead folks only need apply)
Political (they have role models there?)
Financial
Spiritual
Wild Card

Take a moment to reflect upon the people who have helped to shape who you are. Our space is limited and may not do justice to the effect they had on you. Please take the time to expound on them in your journal in the next exercise, or consider writing a note to those still living and thank them for molding you.

What about you? Are you a role model for others? HCPs have a standing in our society. Like it or not, your actions or inactions have more gravitas than the pimply guy slinging burgers and pushing fries. What do you display to the world?

Patricia Raymond MD FACP FACG is a Virginia gastroenterologist who takes the personnel hemorrhage in medicine seriously, and herself lightly. Formerly fried by compassion fatigue, and a frankly cranky caregiver, Dr.Raymond writes and speaks on helping physicians and nurses to play nicely in the sandbox of medicine.

Her books, “Don’t Jettison Medicine” and the cult comedy anthology “Colonoscopy: It’ll Crack u Up” are available at www.RxForSanity.com, or you can hear her on streaming audio each Friday from 12-1 EST as she hosts NPR’s Housecalls challenging patients to step up and accept responsibility for their own health.

Contact her at PLRaymond@RxForSanity.com.

Get more on booking Dr. Raymond’s presentations for your hospital  at  Rx For Sanity

Pre and Post Colonoscopy Humor can be found at the quirky Colonoscopy: It’ll Crack u Up

Listen and call in to live streaming audio as Dr. Raymond teaches the public to accept responsibility for their own health Fridays 12-1 EST on NPR’s Housecalls with Dr. Pat Raymond

Dr Raymond’s patient-centered gastro practice