Has it really been a year already?
1 year and 42 posts later. This has been a massive opportunity for me to share some lessons that I have learned over the years with you all, and to connect with a larger audience. For that I say “Thank You” to Eric, Ashley, and Evan from the FlightBridge Ed team for giving me that opportunity and all of the support that has made this project last through its first year. I also thank all of you for tuning in and reading this stuff.
At these milestones, I think it is worth it to take a step back and evaluate what has been learned and if there is any drift from true north.
What Have I Learned This Year?
The first lesson I learned was actually one of the last lessons I learned: Patience and pace keeps you consistent. I can remember a few blogs that I just could not sit on and I put out three in one week! Surely I could keep that pace… not. What I found was that there was a blog bolus and then silence for a bit when a steady infusion over time would have been more beneficial. It is a little bit like when we make some adjustment to our care during a call. Things do not get better in five minutes and we need to wait and let things mellow for a while before the next dose!
I also learned that you do not need permission from anyone to be yourself. Be you. Do you. Have your own voice and your own style. Voice and authenticity are key to not burning out, whether you are writing blogs or anything else. Your attitude and your edge just might be what draws people to you. Roger Kneebone M.D. talks about this and he describes voice as more than just your style, but it is “being known for how YOU do things.” People come to expect certain things of your work because it is you that has done it. This translates nicely to our everyday patient care. For better or worse, people expect certain things when they see you taking care of a patient because it was YOU who took care of them. Always keep the bar high for yourself and make sure people’s expectations stay high as well.
Finally, I learned a little bit about vulnerability. Anything and everything you put out can be seen by anyone and everyone. People will interpret your best messages in the complete opposite manner than what you intended, and I had to learn to be OK with that. When you write or create content, you are responsible for the content and ensuring YOUR message comes across how YOU want it to. Invariably you will offend someone or challenge a preconceived notion that really puts a bur under someone’s saddle. That is not a bad thing… and it also is not your problem. You are not responsible for someone’s response to your work. Some people like it, some people don’t. “Let them,” as Mel Robbins would say. Do you and be yourself. Anything else is an affectation of yourself and the ultimate self-betrayal.
What Did I Hope to Accomplish?
What I set out to do, and it is still a core element to why I do what I do, is to encourage others to find a way to think for themselves by putting my thought processes out there. Sometimes they are not that far removed from conventional wisdom and sometimes they can definitely raise some eyebrows.
You see, early on we learn “the rules” and emulate the people who taught us. They are our entire frame of reference after all, and so we do what they do the way they do it without much deviation. It is “safe.” We don’t know any better. But as we put in our time and practice we start to see what makes better sense to us and adapt/adopt bits and pieces of our own lessons learned into our personal practice. In so doing, we develop our own way. Our own “right.” Our own voice. This is OK. Who wants to be a mindless, “paint by numbers” operator anyway?
I also hoped to make some content that other people could use and start a conversation with. Particularly a conversation between an FTO and their trainee. Regardless of if you are flying or on the ground, this time is priceless for you as a new person. All of the “1 Minute Preceptor” and “Air-ways” content is full of stuff that I had to learn on my own, or only came to realize afterwards when a medical director debriefed the call with me. The hope is that an FTO can pull up that blog and spend 5 minutes chatting with the new guy about something other than policy/procedure.
What Does the Next Year Look Like?
I think I am going to hammer down on more FTO/preceptor content. This is the most important leadership role in any organization. So, I think some more personal development/leadership development stuff is in order here, as well as more 5 minute preceptor spots and one-pagers to use during a shift.
Perhaps I will focus more on case review type articles moving forward. I think there are plenty of resources out there for a given disease or injury pattern, but there are not a lot of places that put them into the proper clinical context. Without that context, I believe, a reader can only hope to retain what they have consumed instead of being able to use it. Context is key when selecting “this or that” treatment in a given situation, and knowing how to operate through context is more effective than a conceptual understanding of an issue.
Until next time….
