Our words and actions may strike others, or strike back at us, in unexpected ways. We must therefore always be ready to show our most human sides: to absorb surprising responses, lean into awkward moments, and apologize when we have erred.

Aldis H. Petriceks, a third-year medical student at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, discusses the importance of setting aside the structure of the patient interview and embracing the patient as an authentic, living personality.

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