• Richard Colgan.
• Family and Community Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland.
• Ann Fam Med. 2014 May 1; 12 (3): 276-8.

AbstractWilliam Osler is quoted as saying, "Nothing will sustain you more potently than the power to recognize in your humdrum routine, as perhaps it may be thought, the true poetry of life-the poetry of the commonplace, of the plain, toil-worn woman, with their loves and their joys, their sorrows and their griefs."(1) A family physician reflects how he continues to derive sustenance from having cared for a dying woman and her family over several home visits in his earliest years of private practice. The author's memory of these house calls continues to reinforce his love for medicine. Today, when physicians are overburdened with countless numbers of interruptions, requirements, and measures we are reminded that one of the things which can maintain our passion for medicine is in realizing that caring for others is the focus of our sacred vocation. By appreciating the impact we have on the lives of those less fortunate, we may find meaning in our own lives.

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