You really sparked a conversation @jflier, comments show the opposing points of view pretty well. Best advice from my program director at @usask as a resident was that an MDs impact must be rooted in being clinically excellent. 12 years of rural practice has taught me however that folks who don’t see and address the inequitable circumstances that patients experience due to geography, socioeconomic status, racism, sexism, ableism, language, trauma, being labelled a problem patient, among many others are: - at best, achieving less excellent care than they could - at worst, being really crappy clinicians who cause harm with or without realizing it Case in point, surgical teams who discharge patients post surgery to places where there’s no running water and instruct them to keep their wounds clean. We have to find a way to do both, but you can’t be an excellent clinician without seeing and mitigating your patients life circumstances as best you can. Imagine a lot of folks pick this up if they find good clinical mentors, but may have never framed it as an outcome of equity, diversity and inclusion.

This deserves a retweet.