Joined Dr. Harman to talk about mentorship, intentional leadership, vulnerability and the ways stories impact the work we do.

"I remember thinking I could stay where I am, where I have relationships and know people and would be very well supported, or I could go here and get pushed. But pushed in a way that I know I have a safety net, I know I have somebody who will have my back. And it’s allowed me to push myself and try out new things in a way I couldn’t have imagined…"

"I Am Human" is a mantra inspired by former Story Rounds speaker Shireen Heidari, MD, a family physician who specializes in palliative care and is part of a growing number of Stanford Medicine physicians and researchers committed to creating a more open culture among colleagues.

Shireen Heidari was never afraid of the grueling conversations. In fact, she was drawn to palliative care because of them.

"When I was a resident, the unspoken rule was that if you called out sick, you had better be completely unable to get to work." (story starts @3:35 minutes in)

"I worked myself to the point of needing to be rehydrated in my own continuity clinic... this is what we were taught: that we should be superhuman and that even though we provided medical care, we wouldn't need it ourselves. And that couldn't have been further from the truth."

"I won’t be able to cure cancer or perform major surgery, but I can relieve pain and nausea. I can hold space for emotion. I can support people in crisis. I can try to make a terrible situation a little less bad. It may not seem like much, but it can matter a lot."