title: Excellence in Intensive Care Medicine.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Excellence is an important goal for all physicians. Unfortunately, it is hard to define, evaluate, and achieve. To provide a concise interpretive review of excellence in intensive care medicine, with a focus on those key characteristics that excellent physicians possess but are seldom discussed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Electronic search of the PubMed database using the search terms "excellence," "role models," "compassion," "commitment," "dedication," and "passion."
  
  
  METHODS
  Publications or studies of excellence, role models, compassion, commitment, dedication, and passion. Two reviewers evaluated each term.
  
  
  METHODS
  Publications or studies were abstracted independently and in duplicate.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Excellence in critical care can be achieved through deliberate practice, feedback, and effective evaluation. Excellence embodies numerous characteristics, which include compassion, commitment, and passion.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Awareness of the fundamental characteristics of excellence can help young students and doctors determine what they should strive for to become excellent physicians as well as encourage experienced doctors to rekindle the spark that initially motivated them to become physicians.
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel.2Department of Medical Education, Hebrew University Faculty of Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel.3Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis/St Paul, MN.4Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Regions Hospital. Minneapolis/St Paul, MN.
authors.forename: Charles L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Sprung
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Marini
mesh_terms: D003422:Critical Care / Q000592:standards*; D011787:Quality of Health Care