August Milestones of the Month--ICS1 and PROF1

I'm often asked by applicants "What are you looking for in a resident?"  I've answered that in a lot of ways over the past couple of years, but what it really comes down to is that I'm looking for Future Colleagues. I think that that is what the following two sets of Milestones emphasize--the kind of respect, integrity, and teamwork that makes a person someone that you like to work with every day, even in tough times.  And like clinical skills, we aren't born with these qualities 100% developed in us--they grow through experience (and are forged into us through trial). On ICS1 (Interpersonal Communication Skills, in case you were wondering), the emphasis is on our behavior with patients and in teams, whereas PROF1 seems more to emphasize the values and ethics which underlie that behavior. Nevertheless, the two are inextricably related--our behavior toward one another and toward our patients is the visible and observable manifestation of our beliefs and ethical precepts--even, and perhaps especially, when they are different from ourselves, or when we fundamentally disagree about important matters. Consider these things and make it your goal to behave toward one another, toward your teammates, and toward your patients as you yourself hope to be treated.