Professionalism Part 3: Punctuality

It is difficult to argue that being late to anything in any way is good, except perhaps to your own funeral. However, I have been a part of discussions about tardiness that have mentioned the potential benefits, mostly related to the cache that comes form others having to wait for you: For example, rounding on patients cannot start without you; surgery cannot proceed without you; the meeting cannot begin without you; etc. As surgeons are mostly megalomaniacs, the feeling of self-importance is augmented when others have to wait for you. The assumption is that your time is more valuable. I confess that I have been guilty of these transgressions.

Being late mostly annoys people and does not take into consideration other individual's schedules. It is fundamentally impolite and unprofessional.

In my experience, and interestingly so, punctuality has been mostly a characteristic of older surgeons. I had the pleasure of working with a surgeon with whom you could set your watch to his arrival. He also would be polite enough to call if he were to be late. In fact, this simple behaviour added to his aura and others respected him for it.

Being on time is difficult. Achieving punctuality is a process that begins long before the anticipated event. It involves being organized and maintaining a realistic and consistent schedule. Books and articles have been written about getting and staying organized and there are "expert" consultants on the subject. This is not a trivial matter.

Punctuality is a learned behaviour. It can be mandated so residents and fellows must organize themselves accordingly and thus learn organizational skills in a sink-or-swim situation. This is not ideal, but it may be effective. Being punctual is also a behaviour that can be imitated and therefore it is taught, more importantly, by example.

The most important lesson I have learned about being punctual is that I will be respected more if I am on time than if I am late.