"My time, energy, and focus are finite; one clear, properly motivated action will come at the cost of another. It is easy to think this means I will miss out on important moments, or that I may disappoint some for the benefit of others. But the antidote is to recognize that each experience is special."

Fourth-year medical student Fletcher Bell reflects on doctors' overlapping duties to their patients and family.

This essay placed third in the 2021 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest and was published in the October 2021 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.