Coaching for Success in Medicine: Intentness Today

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Coach Woodenism for the Week: "Intentness, the willingness to persevere when hardship is forced upon you and those you lead."

In this series, we're applying Coach John Wooden's Pyramid of Success to medical education. We began by discussing the foundation of Attitude, Effort, Friendship, Loyalty, and Cooperation. The second focuses on the mind, beginning with Self Control, followed by Alertness, Initiative, and now Intentness.

The coach defined Intentness as 'a relentless pursuit of excellence'. Whether this fire burns or build depends on a coach's and clinician's focus. Focus only on self, then you are finished. Focus on helping others, then you build everyone.

In today's technology driven world, Intentness is more important then ever. Clinically, we are often tempted to cut to the bottomline by focusing only on the chief complaint in our busy ED's. If we just get the CT and get 'em out, we may miss the abuse that is real life threat. If we just google the answer, or listen to a random podcast, we may short circuit the mastery earned from ten thousand hours of deliberate practice.

Yet, the only constant is change. We need to embrace this revolution and integrate technology effectively into the art and science of medicine. Coach Wooden often told his player's to "Be quick, but don't hurry". Technology will help us better live this advice, becoming more efficient and more effective. Look it up on google instead of searching through your outdated book rack. But learn to find the best site, then read the paper, and practice the procedure again in the sim lab. Use the time saved to go back to the bedside. The technological revolution in medicine will require renewed Intentness, but our patient's live and our own professional satisfaction will more than justify the extra effort. Make it a great day!

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