If you can keep your head when one is crowning,

And be peaceful when all is going well;

If you can swim against the tide that’s drowning

So many people under profit’s swell;

If you can hear the fear among the nervous,

And tell a tear will trickle sometime soon;

If you can see yourself in lifelong service,

Yet save that special family afternoon;

If your wisdom can comfort many mothers;

If you hold the wrinkled hand, brand new or old;

And do so much to help so many others,

And keep the secrets you alone are told;

If you can tell that every life’s a story,

And listen close to hear the common strains;

If you can face the grim, the gross, the gory;

And often cure, but always ease the pain;

If you can deal with chaos and with humdrum,

Finding every day a new way you can grow;

If you know the community you come from,

Yet sometimes simply say just, “I don’t know”;

If you can fill the asystolic minute

With 10 cc’s of IV bicarb run;

Then walk out to the waiting room and in it

Share the failure of everything you’ve done;

If you can talk with calm and walk with power,

Treat common people with uncommon care;

If you see change as springtime’s future flower;

Yet keep the faith to which you’re honored heir;

If you can help with everybody’s illness,

And share the power knowledge can unlock;

If you can fill long silences with stillness,

Then you will know that you’re a Family Doc.