Steven B. Abramson, MD, Senior Vice President and Vice Dean for Education, Faculty, and Academic Affairs
Photo: 嘿嘿视频 Staff
Last winter, 嘿嘿视频 Health leader Steven Abramson, MD, spoke to first-year medical students about what he鈥檚 learned from nearly five decades as a distinguished clinician, researcher, and educator. The conversation was part of NYU School of Medicine鈥檚 Leaders and Teams lecture series. Here are a few highlights.
Learning how to care for people is a unique privilege. Medicine is the only profession that is sworn to a 2,500-year-old oath, the Hippocratic Oath, which requires physicians to uphold certain ethical standards.
Those ancient words still define principles of the profession today. There鈥檚 something very special about being a doctor, and that brings obligations regarding how we behave, not just with our patients but with everyone.
鈥淭here鈥檚 something very special about being a doctor, and that brings obligations regarding how we behave, not just with our patients but with everyone.鈥濃擠r. Steven B. Abramson, the Frederick H. King Professor of Internal Medicine and Chair of the Department of Medicine
When new doctors doubt their skills, they should trust in their ability to become accomplished physicians. After I graduated from medical school, the most terrifying day was July 1, the day I became an intern. I thought, 鈥淲ill I be able to take care of patients?鈥 I learned I could, but it took months to gain that confidence.
Almost every patient can inspire a research question. We tend to think that we know everything about the conditions we鈥檙e treating. If a patient has congestive heart failure, we treat it with certain drugs. But in reality, there are very few diseases that we treat as well as we should; and very few diseases that we can cure. There鈥檚 so much that needs to be done on the research side to improve patient care.
Role models are essential. A mentor can help you navigate your career and think critically about your profession. I鈥檝e been fortunate to have several role models. During my early training, Saul Farber, MD, former chair of the and dean of NYU School of Medicine, taught the importance of education and the physician鈥檚 responsibility to medicine as a profession. Gerry Weissmann, MD, my predecessor as director of rheumatology, embodied enduring passion for science and knowledge. And Dean Grossman, another longtime mentor, has epitomized the importance of the continual resolve for excellence.
Commit to your work. When you bring effort and dedication to your job鈥攁nd you do it well鈥攍eadership opportunities will come to you.
To be a leader, you need listening skills and emotional intelligence. But more important, you need a sense of where your group needs to go, what鈥檚 on the horizon, and how to get there. You need vision.
Hire people who are smarter than you. You want people with expertise greater than your own who say, 鈥淚 did everything you asked, and by the way, I did this, that, and the other thing.鈥 Those types of people deliver ideas you hadn鈥檛 thought of before. They make you better.
Make every encounter with a patient or colleague as positive as possible. When a physician leaves the room, the patient鈥攏o matter how sick鈥攕hould feel as if there is a little more hope in the room than when he or she first came in. You can鈥檛 be perfect.
There will be frustrations. But if you鈥檙e in a position of authority, you have an obligation to help others when possible.
I try to say thank you several times each day, since my success is so dependent on the contributions of others.
