Managing Oneself : A Physician’s Diary Serial 1- Purpose &Values

COVID has incredibly highlighted the core challenges of healthcare. Indeed, it has greatly impacted the social, political, economic, and healthcare aspects of many countries. However, as we transit into the post pandemic phase, we should not lose the learnings from a good crisis. With the increased pressure of costs healthcare organizations are fast changing the way they function. The way forward can be for Physicians to realize that there are certain things, if focused on, can make a lot of difference in a physician’s personal and professional life.

Purpose and Strategy

Purpose is the reason for one’s existence. Strategy is the process that takes you from where you are to where you want to be – a state of being that is better than the present. There is a need to maintain a razor focus on the purpose of one’s life and then spend the time and energy required to achieve it. Unfortunately, many doctors haven’t figured out their life’s purpose and some of them spend disproportionate amount of time on aspects that really don’t matter the most. It is important to make time for work that matters.

Core Values

Core Values are the broad desired goals that motivate people's actions and serve as guiding principles through their lives. Everyone has values, but each person has a different value set. A person can have many values with an individual assigning more importance to some values over others.

The fundamental values may be compassion, respect for people, Integrity and ethical practice and a commitment to excellence. They embody the human dimensions of healthcare and are fundamental for the practice of patient centric care. Back in the 90s, doctors, never refused to treat patients who are acutely ill in an emergency. They practiced the fundamental principle that lack of finance should never be the reason for a patient to be denied healthcare. However, with newer models of third-party investors and corporate hospitals coming in, the profitability of the last quarter has taken precedence over the quality of healthcare, even in board-room discussions.

In order to bring about a real change, it is imperative to realize that financial issues like the cost of land or construction of the hospital are secondary. In the present day context of commercialization of healthcare, personal values have become even more important and therefore need to be inculcated and upheld at all costs. The political system and governments have also to play an active role in these areas.

TranscendOrg has been closely working with healthcare organizations to conduct customized programs for medical professionals. These programs have been designed by taking a holistic view of the needs of medical practitioners and cover aspects like Managing Oneself, Healthcare Finance, Service Leadership, Managing Healthcare Teams etc. Such initiatives have had a positive impact on all i.e. the medical professional, the organization and importantly the patient.