110% focus: What the doctor orders for patients and family
- danstamm9
- Feb 23
- 2 min read
From the operating room to the living room: Penn Medicine Interventional Pulmonologist Dr. David DiBardino discusses the discipline of attention
I recently had an interesting conversation with Dr. David DiBardino about the focus it takes to be a physician.
"Dr. Dave" is an interventional pulmonologist at Penn Medicine's Harron Lung Center. For the non-medical experts among us, interventional pulmonologists are specialists who use advanced, minimally invasive techniques to diagnose and treat diseases of the airways and lungs.
On any given day, Dave might be performing a life-saving procedure or simply talking a patient through their options to provide relief. In his highly-specialized line of work, he can't afford to be distracted.
"You know that you want to do right by them and you want to help them. And, you know that they're not here so they can get 75% of your attention," Dr. Dave told me.
He said his goal is to focus entirely on the patient in front of him and their exact concern. "They're here because they want your 110% focus."
I think we all wish our doctors gave us their everything when they're in the room with us. To the individual patient, what they need is the most important thing in the world at that moment. For generations, the Hippocratic Oath has guided physicians to do right by their patients.
What is more in that spirit than giving your undivided attention to the patient?
While some compartmentalizing must occur for a doctor to stay objective, for Dave that intensity is worth every bit of focus. But what happens once he scrubs out?
The most important ‘patients’ are at home
For Dave—someone I've become friends with through our sons—the concept of focus doesn't end when he leaves the hospital.
"Focusing on trying not to be distracted through having a family is a major motivator, too," Dave said. "The healthy habits of hobbies and being there for your kids... it really puts that charge of not being distracted on another level. Because if you try to do that all day at work... thinking you're going to 'exhale' at 5 o'clock and then you can just sit there and zone out on Instagram and watch Netflix—but do both at the same time, so you do neither—all evening? Those days are over."
Our children deserve our attention. They don't deserve to see us engrossed in phones or with our minds elsewhere. For me, it's about physically putting down the device. For Dave, it's the motivation to give his family his absolute best.
"You've got three little kids who need you and who—it's heartbreaking to see—you know, a little kid realize their parents (aren't) giving them attention," Dave added. "I think that that is a massive motivator... I'm sure you agree, probably a common thread for good parents across the board is that they try to give their kids as much of their attention as they can and not be distracted."
That's just what the doctor ordered. Now, it's time for me to go play with my kids in the snow.
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