I can remember the very first time I got a Thank You card from a patient. I was a 4th year medical student rotating at a different institution and I was taking care of a cute little girl with a ‘Dr. House’ sort of problem. The team was working her up for something that is extraordinarily rare and truthfully I had a very rudimentary understanding of what it was. As they left the hospital, they handed me a hand written Thank You card expressing their gratitude for my attention to their daughter. I honestly added nothing to the diagnostic value of the team, but I was someone in a (short) white coat that had an open ear and much more time on my hands than the other team members.
Time has passed and now I am of more value to my team but an open ear is still always the first step to a great patient-physician relationship. I still love getting thank you cards and letters from my patients and I save them all. If you or your child has a physician, PA, nurse practitioner, or nurse that you really feel has done an outstanding job, I encourage you to write them a note to let them know. They will appreciate it, I promise. These little things are worth more than any award I can hang on my wall. This is why I am a doctor.
