Takeaway
I found more meaning in my work when I stopped treating “cases” and started seeing people. Compassionate attention became my most effective clinical tool.
Passion in the Medical Profession | November 11, 2025 | 1 min read
By Dimitri Tito, DO, Johns Hopkins Medicine
During my first year of practice, I met a 59-year-old patient, the same age as my mother, with one of the most complex medical histories I’d ever seen. It was a web of chronic illnesses: lupus, diabetes, heart disease, and more. When she arrived in clinic, she was in intense pain, but her exhaustion seemed deeper than physical symptoms. She’d seen countless specialists and explained she felt ignored. She’d prayed that morning that a doctor would finally figure out what was wrong.
I wanted to be that doctor. And I realized my role wasn’t just to order a CT scan or adjust her medications. It was to listen. To be present. To see the human being tired of just being a “case.” I gave her my cell number so she would always feel supported, and she called when she had questions. That relationship taught me the most important lesson of my career: Intelligence alone isn’t enough; compassionate attention unlocks better care.
This understanding has become the core of my mission. My patient’s plea brought me back to the first time I felt seen by medicine. It was as a child in Cameroon receiving care from the selfless doctors on the Mercy Ships and later solidified by a nursing home resident who told me I was the first person to treat her as a “person first and a patient second.”
Seeing each patient in full is the heart of my practice. Starting there has deepened the trust patients have in me. Intelligence guides us; compassionate attention makes the care work.
Read more in my book, “Spark: A Physician’s Path to Purpose.”
Click here to learn more about the author.
This piece expresses the views solely of the author. It does not necessarily represent the views of any organization, including Johns Hopkins Medicine.