In the 1880s Dr. William Osler started the first residency program for medical students in the United States. He told his (Johns Hopkins) residents: “Ask not what disease the patient has, but rather, what patient the disease has.” Mental attitude and self-efficacy have often determined which patients recover and which do not. Knowing and believing you can recover improve your odds of doing so. Believing you are going to die improve your odds of that happening as well.
