My experience that night in the ICU was the wake-up call I needed. It was a reminder to shift my priorities back to the patient. It was a reminder that my job was more than check boxes and administrative tasks.

Nicholas R. Lenze, a resident in otolaryngology/head and neck surgery at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, reflects on the delicate balance between being an efficient resident and a doctor.

The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the December 2022 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.