Laura Vater: The moments I regret the most
Laura Vater, Gastrointestinal Oncologist at the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, shared a post on X:
“In med school, a woman with cancer was lying on the table before surgery. She was scared.
Everyone was completing their tasks. I wanted to go to her, hold her hand. But I was worried it would make me look soft, or weak. So I stayed back.
These are the moments I regret the most.
Doctors miss two-thirds of opportunities to show compassion. Not because they are bad people, but because they’ve been trained to not see them or taught to not respond.
Dear med students:
Hold the hand of the patient who needs you. Sit down. Lean in. Be present.
Trust your instincts, even when those around you don’t understand or respond in the same way. This skill may have been trained out of them years ago, but hold onto it with both hands.”
More posts featuring Laura Vater.
Dr. Laura B. Vater is a gastrointestinal oncologist at the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, specializing in colorectal, pancreatic, gastric, liver, and bile duct cancers.
She developed the SMILE Scale in 2017, a tool used globally to help patients and clinicians prioritize health. Her research interests include narrative medicine to enhance clinician empathy and support caregivers in their work.
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