I feel like I’ve learnt more in the past 3 weeks in my research fellowship than I did in the preceding year of clinical work. It’s a steep learning curve, and one that’s taken me out of my comfort zone.

Doctors are generally very comfortable in their role as clinician, and far less so in other roles, such as manager or researcher. Our training prepares us to be experts in clinical management and even if we don’t know the answer, we know where to go look for it. The positive feedback in clinical work can be rapid (provide an intervention, see an improvement for the patient, repeat, hurrah!), unlike management or research roles. Continue reading →