Today I was talking with a mentor about our mission. Sometimes when I talk about what we are doing, imposter syndrome kicks in and I sound unenthusiastic and monotone - or maybe what’s really going on, my own uncertainty, comes through. But today, he asked why I talk about “physician wellness” and I was startled by my own burst of energy and emotional response. He genuinely didn’t know - and I realized most of the public doesn’t know - what is asked of physicians. But he knew all of the pieces: He knew that the majority of people go into medicine because they care about helping people. He knew that the physician’s role has changed from having a caring personal relationship with each patient to essentially data entry and accounting. He can remember the time before the systemic and regulatory changes that have impacted medicine so much. From there it was pretty easy for him to imagine how it feels to be in that position.

I don’t know yet how we can do anything about that core problem, but for now, I know we can make tools that save time and create space and make things a little easier - maybe give a physician the time and space to propose that needed solution.