Thursday, July 14, 2011

Praise

Here's a wake up call to any medical teachers out there; do you praise your fellows?

Eddie Blackburn, who was Professor of Haematology at Sheffield, used to make a habit of writing a letter praising the authors of papers that he read in the British Journal of Haematology.

William Mayo, the founder of the Mayo Clinic used praise to encourage young doctors.
One of them said, "You'd read a paper at a staff meeting and afterwards he'd see you in the lift or the hall, and would shake your hand and put his hand on your shoulder with a quiet, 'Good work,' and a straight warm look that made you think he meant it. Or perhaps a day or two later you'd get a note from him, just a short one saying something like, 'Dear -------, I learned more about ------- from that paper of yours the other night than I ever knew before. It was a good job.' Believe me, a fellow prized those notes."

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