Jun 23, 2026 · 19 min · 9 segments
As you begin residency - are you pondering on what it really meansto be a good doctor? In this special Day 1 of Residency episode, guest host Dr. Harley Bray (PGY3, Obstetrics and Gynecology) sits…
Faisal SiddiquiGuest
Harley BrayHost
So we had a case together where we were working together and there were other staff that were involved that made it challenging.
And after the case was done, we sort of passed each other in the hallway and you had said to me, you said, Harley, don't ever forget to be a good doctor.
And so I was wondering how has your definition of being a good doctor changed over your career?
So I remember the case well, and I remember the distress that we all went through as a team at that time.
The idea of being a good doctor when you're a medical student is learn all the stuff, know everything, have it all in your brain.
When you get to residency, it's like, great, I only have to know this narrow area of medicine.
and then when you get into other when you get later on in your career or later past the point of like the royal college exam what ends up happening is you realize that being a good doctor is not always knowing everything but knowing where to look it up knowing how to find the answer and recognizing that your narrow area of expertise is one piece of the care that a patient requires And so knowing that we're really playing a team sport where, you know, Harley, the story that I think you're referring to, you were in R2 and I was attending for a while.
And I can tell you more about my part because we both had the same goal and that was the patient.
So now I think being a good doctor is not just knowing everything or not knowing everything.
It's knowing what you do know and what you don't know and then working towards a goal that would work for the patient in their best interest.
Irrespective of your ego, my ego, and the other things that are happening around, it's always about like, that's someone's loved one, that's someone's partner, someone's child, someone important in that bed, and one day it'll be me.
So I hope that when I work in the OR, in the ICU, or just in the hospital, I tell people, I'm like, learn this, because if you're taking care of me, I will be very angry if you don't remember this.
And so being a good doctor is recognizing that we're taking care of ourselves, not just the people in front of us.
So we had a case together where we were working together and there were other staff that were involved that made it challenging.
And after the case was done, we sort of passed each other in the hallway and you had said to me, you said, Harley, don't ever forget to be a good doctor.
And so I was wondering how has your definition of being a good doctor changed over your career?
So I remember the case well, and I remember the distress that we all went through as a team at that time.
The idea of being a good doctor when you're a medical student is learn all the stuff, know everything, have it all in your brain.
When you get to residency, it's like, great, I only have to know this narrow area of medicine.
and then when you get into other when you get later on in your career or later past the point of like the royal college exam what ends up happening is you realize that being a good doctor is not always knowing everything but knowing where to look it up knowing how to find the answer and recognizing that your narrow area of expertise is one piece of the care that a patient requires And so knowing that we're really playing a team sport where, you know, Harley, the story that I think you're referring to, you were in R2 and I was attending for a while.
And I can tell you more about my part because we both had the same goal and that was the patient.
So now I think being a good doctor is not just knowing everything or not knowing everything.
It's knowing what you do know and what you don't know and then working towards a goal that would work for the patient in their best interest.
Irrespective of your ego, my ego, and the other things that are happening around, it's always about like, that's someone's loved one, that's someone's partner, someone's child, someone important in that bed, and one day it'll be me.
So I hope that when I work in the OR, in the ICU, or just in the hospital, I tell people, I'm like, learn this, because if you're taking care of me, I will be very angry if you don't remember this.
And so being a good doctor is recognizing that we're taking care of ourselves, not just the people in front of us.
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