The Attending Who Never Clocks Out

I want to tell you about a night in Oklahoma City and a colleague who asked me one exact question.

He said: are you looking for proof that you didn't miss something, or proof that you did?

I did not answer immediately. But the answer was in the silence. The Attending Who Never Clocks Out is not satisfied by exoneration. He wants confirmation of the verdict he has already written. And he will review the same case indefinitely, with perfect hindsight and no clock, until you give him a different job.

The different job is this: learn what the case has to teach, and then close the chart.

Not because the case does not matter. Because the next patient matters too, and they need you present, not prosecuting.

— Job