Wise Words Library

While preparing for a teaching session on complex problem-solving, I recounted some WiseWords that colleagues had shared with me. Many communicated the hidden wisdom that informs our everyday practice. To explore this further, I asked GPs on a social media group to share their own WiseWords and was pleasantly surprised by the response!

Statements, such as “trust your gut”, have been pivotal to our work for decades.

Skills such as our gut instinct can be hard to define. They inform our most complex interactions with patients and are developed over thousands of encounters. They enable us to navigate some of the most complex problems we face in everyday practice, through a process known as knowledge work.

Working on WiseGP, I felt a collection of these WiseWords could provide a thought-provoking resource for reflection and learning, to showcase our hidden professional wisdom.

To build this resource, we joined with the Primary care Academic CollaboraTive (PACT) to share a survey, asking clinicians to contribute their own WiseWords. The responses have now been condensed into 6 books, offering insights into different aspects of our everyday practice.

The key learning from these WiseWords will come from understanding their application, so we’d encourage you to critically reflect on the statements. Consider where these ideas come from, how they may or may not be applied and why they aren’t reflected in our guidelines for practice.

You can explore the WiseWords collection on our new webpage, where there's an introduction and video collection.

Hopefully they’ll inspire you to share reflections on how you apply your wisdom in practice, or perhaps spark you to record your own book of WiseWords- a legacy to share with current and future colleagues!

Dr Annabelle Machin