My Intern Cried on Rounds

While acknowledging her embarrassment, I encouraged her to hold fast to that part of her—the part that was so moved by the work she did to help a child heal that tears escaped. Those tears express our human experience, love for the patient, and deep appreciation for the healing process.

Cara E. Texler reflects on the importance of retaining humanism in medicine amidst the interruptions and tasks that inundate physicians' days.

The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the May 2026 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at https://academic.oup.com/academicmedicine.