Graduating from medical school and completing residency training provided me with the skills to diagnose and treat patients, but it was one particular patient during my training who taught me how to be a doctor.

She was in her early 70s with hypertension and a history of cardiac stents. She presented for a follow-up appointment in the internal medicine clinic. I only had 20 minutes to spend with her at our first meeting and had a lot of ground to cover. I asked about current symptoms, medical and surgical history, drug regimen, etc. I also discussed a treatment plan and reviewed her medical records. As a new doctor, I was proud of myself for accomplishing these tasks in the allotted time.

At her next appointment, I started to inquire about interval history, etc. About a minute into our appointment, she asked, “Doc, do you know anything about me as a person? You haven’t asked a single question about me.” I turned red in embarrassment.

Before I could muster a response, she continued, “I know you are a new doctor. Let me share some advice. Get to know your patients as unique individuals. I have high blood pressure and heart problems, but I am different from the next patient with the same complaints. We are more than a checklist of symptoms.”

She was right. No two patients with identical complaints are the same. They come from diverse backgrounds and have their own views about their illness and treatment. As such, they can respond differently to the same treatment. Even asking one personal question can let our patients know that we don’t view them as simply a label.

Kaustubh G Joshi, associate professor of clinical psychiatry

[email protected]

Competing interests: I have read and understood BMJ policy on declaration of interests and have no relevant interests to declare.