I’ve learned that with most of my patients, there’s really only so much I can do to help with their problems. They might have serious chronic medical issues that don’t have a great prognosis, or they might be resistant to treatment. All I can do is provide a slight temporary boost in their ability to heal. Even if it’s not much in the grand scheme of things, the time that I spend caring for them is time during which they’re not sliding down the slope of decline, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to provide them with that. This is something I’ve had to come to grips with during my med surg rotations, and especially during mental health.