We are continuing our Personal Growth Series with Dr. Marissa Flaherty and Dr. Beth Lamos, this time with a conversation on communication skills in med school and beyond. How can we work on our communication styles to be as effective as possible, in both preclinical and clinical years? How can we "read the room" when we enter into a new setting? How have we messed up in our own communication attempts through the years? Listen in for answers to all these questions and more. 

“There are opportunities for failure around every corner.” That’s a quote from John Allen, one of our contributors and storytellers for this episode on disappointments, mistakes, and that awful feeling of failure. In this episode, we continue our conversation about setbacks in medical school and beyond, and how to move forward when you’ve failed at something. We'll hear from residents and faculty members about the moments that haunt them and the coping strategies that helped them. 

The path of a physician is paved with mistakes and setbacks. Sometimes, the mistakes are small. Sometimes, they're major, even impacting the health of our patients. How can we deal with failures and mistakes throughout our career? How can we cope with feelings of guilt and disappointment? How do we keep moving forward? In this episode, we hear a StoryCorps-like conversation between Dr. Natalie O'Neill, a senior surgical resident at the University of Maryland Medical Center, and her husband, Brandon. Dr. O'Neill lets us in on all the micro-failures that feel miserable in the moment and eventually lead to learning and growth. In Part 2, we'll hear from many physicians about difficult setbacks in their own careers.