2
WE NEED TO EMBRACE
OUR FAILURES
By Sasha K. Shillcutt, MD, MS, FASE - Associate Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of
Anesthesiology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC).
When doing scientific research, we expect to fail. In
fact, we write the likelihood of negative findings into
our protocols and plans. We expect things to not always
work as we think they might, and we accept that we
may not prove what we set out to prove.
In the scientific community, we depend on
complete transparency when we fail. We depend on
it to advance science, to help people, and to find the
best treatments and drug therapies. We publish our
failures, and we learn from them.
We don’t get upset when we fail in research. We see it
as equally important to figure out what doesn’t work as
4
what does. We reevaluate and move forward.
Wouldn’t it be nice if failure in life was similar?
We have this unrealistic expectation that we won’t
fail. We think that we shouldn’t ever fail, so we stay in
our comfort zone where we know we won’t.
And when we are #braveenough to try something
new, difficult, or risky, and we happen to fail, we stop.
We look around us … did anyone see us fail?
We feel ashamed, and we regret trying. We beat
ourselves up.
It’s bananas.
Truly. Bananas.
www.PhysiciansOfficeResource.com