I recently had a lesson in the ‘softer skills’, when a difficult encounter with my adultish younger child required some quick repair, as she no longer resides in the State and was visiting for a short (but wonderful) while. It was a vastly complex scenario, somewhat beyond the interpersonal conflict we had to negotiate, and I had to spend some time digesting what had happened.
Wondrously for a middle-aged male, at some point I actually thought carefully about where my own reaction to the situation had come from. More wondrously still, I communicated it fairly effectively to my loved one. And, miracle of miracles, she saw a way for us to discuss it, and a lot of the difficulty slid to the side, while real engagement and intimacy were allowed in.
More recently, I was extremely grateful for the softer skills of an anaesthetist who was tending to my dear mother. In a way I’d never seen before, she had shown some real anxiety about the procedure for which she was scheduled, particularly the perils of anaesthesia. He clearly put her at ease, and responded to her misgivings with patience and real care, for which I’m very appreciative. The reward was a calm, relaxed, and quickly recovered parent on the other side of her operation.
Our Anaesthetics feature in this edition includes a fascinating and insightful piece on young Australians being given the opportunity to share their priorities for research in paediatric anaesthesia, an excellent development.
UWA Medical School Valedictorian Dr Pooja Ramesh spoke movingly about interpersonal skills in her graduation speech, partly captured in these pages.
“People are why we do what we do. Whether it’s the patients whose stories we’re entrusted with, or the lives touched by our research, people are our purpose,” she told the assembled graduation audience.
With Interns recently starting their medical journey in the State’s hospitals, the AMA (WA) was able to spend time with the next generation of doctors at Orientation Week, as a picture spread in this edition attests. They are already deep in their hospital rounds, probably trying to work out what day it is at any given moment.
But perhaps, when they get those moments to come up for air and reflect on all they have achieved, they will recognise the part their own humanity plays in the lives of their patients. It is really appreciated by them and those who love them.
