Because of Her

When I care for my patients, I think of her. I am grateful for her; she gave me this opportunity to trust myself. I am grateful for her; she showed me my calling to be a physician. Megan K. Scharner reflects on a patient who helped her realize that she wanted to switch careers and go to medical school. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the July 2026 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at https://academic.oup.com/academicmedicine.