“Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential”

~Winston Churchill

Through all of my training, I always felt there was someone better. In my mind, I

was not the "ideal." As for many, I never felt I was good enough. (tear) In medical school and residency, there was always someone who was rather hard on me. I never understood why. Someone, once told me I have great potential. In my fellowship, I received a lot of praise from those above me which I could not understand. One day, I said to my mother, "I don't see what they see." Well, what I have realized is that you can not see your own potential, only others can. So much of the old style of teaching has been lost in the rules and regulations. How do we now draw out the potential you can't see? How can I challenge you to be better?

The most common way that I have seen greatness brought out of a person who is falling short of his / her potential is to be challenged. My greatest educators were, what I would call, assholes. They expected so much out of me.

"Get of my back, I am doing the best I can," I say.

"Well, may be your best isn't good enough," he says.

It was experiences like this that allowed me to push passed myself. I was the limiting factor in my improving. Those assholes saw in me what I could not see in myself. They forced me to be better; they expected me to be better. Slowly, I began expecting this of myself. I began improving passed my self imposed ceiling.

You all will have experiences that will shape you as a physician and surgeon. The things that come easy mean nothing; the information that was given does not stick. That which is earned means everything and will be everlasting.