12 Pearls to Help You Care for Patients, Stay Out of Trouble, and Avoid Burnout

I recently retired after 32 years of practicing family medicine, including caring for patients in the office, hospital, nursing home, urgent care, and obstetric settings and teaching physicians, residents, and students. Over the years, I have collected a number of “pearls” — small but valuable lessons learned through experience and struggle. Previously in FPM, I shared coding and documentation pearls.^1–2 In this article, I'll share practical pearls that can help you care for patients, stay out of trouble, and avoid burnout.

Imagine this scenario: You are running behind schedule, and an emergency crops up or a complex visit slows you down. Now you are running way behind. You enter the next exam room, and you see a frown. The patient is staring at their watch. You then smile and say the four most important words in medicine — “Thank you for waiting” (which is more positive than saying “Sorry I'm late”). You see their frown soften as you give a quick explanation: “I just admitted a patient to the hospital” or “I had to address some major concerns this morning.” The patient smiles and responds, “I understand.” With four simple words, you have turned a potentially mad patient into an understanding patient, and you can now begin the visit on the right foot.

This approach works even better if you also sit down when you enter the exam room, signaling to the patient that you are not rushed and are focused on them.³ And, of course, the best situation is to not be running behind at all because you're working at 90% to 95% of maximum capacity (more on that later).