Abstract
This rather unusual book is written by Michael Sabel, Professor of Neurosurgery at the University Hospital in Düsseldorf, Germany. In the preface of this nice, little book he writes: “Learning and practicing medicine is very time and actually life consuming. In this complex profession, a high level of organizational skills is needed to perform your daily duties. Time will become very precious and you will need to become a master of your time: an expert manager of time. However, even perfect organization skills will not help you to reach goals if you have not defined where you want to go, how you want to live your life and what is important to you. So it is a need for life management as well.”
Prof. Sable concludes: “It is amazing how efficient some of the young residents manage their workload and have a fulfilled and happy life outside the hospital. Unfortunately, these guys are pretty rare. It is much more common to see highly motivated residents crash and underperform: in their professional and private life.”
The book is divided into two parts—1. The Eagle’s Perspective – “Macro”; and 2. Boots on the Ground – “Micro”)—with 12 different chapters. The macro’s perspective deals with “Goals, Roles, and Regeneration,” and focuses on the importance of defining goals, roles, and by no means least the importance of regeneration to avoid the feared “burn-out” syndrome. Part 2 of the book concentrates on practical advice on how to set goals and how to reach them as: From goal to action, time planning, disaster management, networking, reevaluation and by no means least the art to learn from errors.
The book is rather theoretical and I doubt if most readers will have patience to “digest” some parts of the book and follow the advice given in the different chapters. As with most books dealing with time management and life management, focus is on the use of different forms of spreadsheets and time matrix models. My personal view, after having read the book, was that “I haven’t time to focus on all details presented in this book;” too many details may induce an over-kill. However, I would advise all medical students and residents, especially in their first year, to read the book and take with them what I regard as the essence of this book, the definition of goals, roles and both mental and physical regeneration. It has been, and probably still is, a saying: “You can make it, if you really want,” Prof. Sabel concludes with “nonsense,” but at the same time underlines that time management, setting realistic goals, defining roles, and giving room for mental and physical regeneration, is important if you want to avoid burn-out syndromes and attain a good professional and private life.
I enjoyed reading this book.