Professionalism is not a stable trait

In my work as an academic medicine education specialist, and, perhaps more importantly, in my experience as a patient, I have observed time and time again a common scenario.  I call it the grumpy  physician trickle down scenario.

Here is how it plays out.  A physician, likely good-hearted, well-intentioned, competent, and compassionate, develops frustration with system operations (scheduling, inefficiencies, miscommunication, the list goes on).  The physician internalizes the frustration, perhaps believing …

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