Lessons from Sister Jean to her Loyola team and to physicians

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Every year in March, I am reminded of Loyola Chicago's most famous cheerleader, credited for taking the basketball team in 2018 to the Final Four. Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt might be the best-known college "basketball chaplain" in the world.

Sister Jean is a 105-year-old nun who is an avid sports fan. For decades, she has served as the chaplain to the Loyola of Chicago basketball team. In addition to receiving media attention, her role with the team has earned her many honors, including induction into the Loyola Athletics Hall of Fame and, of course, the Chicago Transit Authority train stop bearing her name. This extraordinary woman serves God through the students and athletes of Loyola University.

In 2023, she published a book, Wake Up With Purpose!: What I've Learned in My First Hundred Years. The book is filled with wit, wisdom, and common sense with broad appeal and application that transcends religion and sports and even applies to the healthcare profession. In this blog, I will select three traits of Sister Jean that have inspired those on and off the basketball court.

Teamwork

Learning to work together is a vital skill for people in any profession, especially in medicine. It's even more important on the home front in navigating relationships with family and friends!

Sister Jean believes that most team sports require working together. That concept of teamwork applies to nearly every area of our lives. Families must have teamwork; husbands and wives must have teamwork; and medical practices must have teamwork. Participating in sports encourages all of that. Sister Jean says, "One person can do it alone. It must be the whole group together." The same applies to a medical practice. Except for a psychiatrist, no doctor can do it alone. We need the support of others. When all the staff members are on the same page as the doctors in the practice, there is that all-important feeling of flow. That's when the doctor arrives on time to start the day, the patients are in the exam rooms ready to be seen, the phones are taken off the answering service, and each patient is seen at their appointment. When that occurs, it is a joy to work in such a practice and a pleasure for our patients, and the doctor and staff have reduced the stress to a manageable level.

Resilience

Sister Jean mentioned several occasions when the Loyola players faced a loss with grace and humility. Learning to win and lose with good character and resilience, even in a lousy season, is an important lesson learned from playing sports.

She points out that the team takes one game at a time. And if they lose, they must be good sports. You can't be moping around after losing. You must pick up the pieces and start again.

There will be days when the medical practice is overwhelmed. Urgencies and emergencies must be accommodated, and the schedule becomes unwieldy. There will be days when the doctor is called away from the office to the emergency room or the operating room, resulting in delays that create havoc with the schedule, add stress to the staff, and contribute to physician and staff burnout.

We must be resilient and recognize that situations will result in stress and discomfort. Just as an athlete can't mope and focus on the loss, a physician must put an unexpected event or loss behind, learn from the error, mistake, or unanticipated event, and proceed with new energy and enthusiasm.

Discipline

Sister Jean commented on the time management and organization that players must learn. Self-discipline, both on and off the basketball court, is integral to participating in sports.

Sports provide an opportunity to learn excellent life, family, and leadership skills. By participating in sports, athletes learn time management because they go to school, carve out time for study, practice several hours a day, and prepare for the next game.

As physicians, we must learn to be disciplined. Self-discipline enables physicians to provide high-quality care, maintain professional integrity, and navigate the complexities of the numerous demanding roles of healthcare providers.

Every physician must adhere to a schedule and master time management. We must ensure that appointments and meetings run on time and that patients receive care in a timely fashion.

We must always be self-disciplined in life-long learning and stay abreast of the latest medical research and treatment guidelines by reading journals, attending conferences, and participating in professional development opportunities. Today, continuing medical education (CME) is a requirement for recertification to maintain our medical licenses. Physicians must complete a minimum of 50 hours of approved Continuing Medical Education (CME) hours during each biennial renewal cycle.

Burnout rates exceed 50% for most medical practices. Consequently, to control the stress that comes with the territory, physicians use stress-reducing techniques, such as mindfulness meditation or exercise, to maintain mental and emotional well-being despite the high-pressure nature of medicine.

A doctor upholds ethical standards, has self-discipline to maintain patient confidentiality, and provides unbiased care, even when faced with difficult situations or conflicting interests.

A physician must consistently demonstrate respect, empathy, and clear communication with colleagues, staff, and patients, even during busy or challenging moments.

A doctor prioritizes their health and well-being by maintaining a balanced diet, getting adequate sleep, exercising regularly, and taking regular breaks to recharge and stay focused.

A physician uses self-discipline to follow organizational and regulatory policies, such as documentation requirements or infection control protocols, to ensure a safe and effective healthcare environment for our patients, staff, and ourselves.

Bottom Line: Sister Jean shares her life lessons gleaned from more than one hundred years of living. She provides priceless wisdom and universal themes that connect us all. She offers sound advice for athletes, non-athletes, and healthcare professionals.

Neil Baum, MD, a Professor of Clinical Urology at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA. Dr. Baum is the author of several books, including the best-selling book, Marketing Your Medical Practice-Ethically, Effectively, and Economically, which has sold over 225,000 copies and has been translated into Spanish.