Physician Feedback: How to Take Criticism and Keep Growing | Ep26
What if the moment you cringe at ‘Can I give you some feedback?’ is actually the exact moment you start growing fastest?
For physicians, feedback rarely feels like a gift. It feels like proof we messed up. From brutal ICU rounds to hallway comments years later, we were trained that mistakes equal danger, so any critique hits our identity, not just our performance.
In this episode, Dr. Michael Hersh dismantles that fear and hands you a new lens: feedback is data, not a verdict.
Learn why the discomfort is actually evidence you care, the simple pause that stops defensiveness in its tracks, and how to ask “What part of this might be true?” without surrendering your self-worth. You’ll also get practical scripts for giving feedback that are specific, timely, impact-focused, and collaborative, so you build trust instead of resentment at work and home.
Stop bracing for shame and start using feedback as the fastest path to growth, leadership, and stronger relationships. Because the physicians who get better fastest aren’t the ones who never hear criticism, they’re the ones who learned how to listen.
Get the 5-Minute Commute Reset for Physicians: www.betterphysicianlife.com/commute-reset
About the Show:
Created for physicians who want more than clinical competence, Better Physician Life is a space for honest reflection, reinvention, and reclaiming purpose beyond the pager.
Hosted by Dr. Michael Hersh, each episode dives into the questions we didn’t learn to ask in training, offering tools and conversations to help you live and lead with intention
Top 3 Takeaways:
-
Pause Before You React: When feedback hits, take one deliberate breath. That tiny pause keeps your old “fix-it-fast” reflex from shutting down the part that actually helps you grow—listening. You can always decide later what’s useful; you can’t un-hear what you never let land.
- Ask “What Part Might Be True?” Instead of “Am I Terrible?”: Feedback is data, not a verdict. Treat it like a lab result: separate the signal from the noise. Even if 90% feels off, the 10% that’s accurate might be the exact insight that changes how you lead, communicate, or connect. Take what serves you, leave the rest without shame.
- Give Feedback That Actually Lands: Be specific (“I noticed you didn’t make eye contact”), timely, and tie it to impact (“patients felt rushed”). Make it collaborative with questions like “How did that feel for you?” Safe, clear feedback builds trust; vague or delayed criticism only breeds resentment at work and at home.
Watch Now
