How one high-performing doctor improves medical outcomes for patients

Being a better physician today than yesterday is a measure of you against yourself. There are myriad small ways to improve your level of care throughout your day. While there are no shortcuts, one way to make real, meaningful improvements is through what Dr. Gurpreet Dhaliwal practices: “progressive problem solving.” Dr. Dhaliwal is a clinician-educator and Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and site director of the internal medicine clerkship at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.  An accomplished and in-demand physician, Dr. Dhaliwal recently shared insights into how he sustains and improves himself using progressive problem solving.

Progressive problem solving is the repetitive practice of incremental self-challenges and responses that build good habits. It is learning when you don’t have to, by creating micro-challenges for yourself that don’t exist in your daily work day. This preparation can help you anticipate risks before you ever face them.

Patients still receive excellent care today, but tomorrow’s patient interaction will be improved because you took a moment to reflect over possible outcomes. And as the incremental changes add up, a medical professional using techniques like progressive problem solving becomes better today than they were yesterday, last month, or last year. The difference in care is realized when the non-routine experience presents itself and the physician is prepared for it. And that makes the practice better, reduces risks, and most of all makes your patients healthier.

Take a moment to watch Dr. Dhaliwal in the video below about how he uses this technique himself. For a much more in-depth discussion about how he maintains a demanding schedule while taking optimal care of his patients, click the link to visit PRI.com.

Watch Dr. Dhaliwal Video