On this remarkable day, however, it was clear. This woman knew who I was, months later and from only the sound of my voice, proving to me for the first time how our small actions can have a large impact.

Umer Farooq, a resident physician in the Department of Internal Medicine at Loyola Medicine/MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn, Illinois, reflects on the unexpected, yet gratifying relationships formed between physicians and patients' family members during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the January 2023 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.