T E AC H Chapter 8
Practicing Honor
H
onor is an interesting concept. Different people define it differently. For some, it could mean a special event to celebrate an accomplishment. It could be an attitude of being open to another’s opinion or perspective. Or maybe it conjures an approach to those perceived as possessing more wisdom, power, or experience. I like to think of honor as our response to a God-given innate worth in other persons. People deserve to be honored because they are all worthy of that attitude. Thus, I can honor my experienced mentor but just as easily honor my chronically ill disabled patient. And as providers, we like to be honored as well! When we do not feel valued at work or feel we are treated unfairly, that is being dishonored.
Removal of Clerical Assistance Providers have been dishonored in one way that has been very subtle and insidious. We used to have clerical assistance. When I first started in practice, I had an assistant assigned to me as their only provider. They handled correspondence, phone calls, manuscript preparation, and database updates. Marilyn is still a good friend, and I still see her from time to time at the hospital. Over time, these positions have been gradually eliminated. Most recently, I was assigned to an assistant who also had eight other providers to attend to. Technology has enabled some of this shift. Central scheduling services, which have their own issues, word processing software, dictation voice recognition 111
