My Favourite Quotes: Quotes about Experience

Experience is the best teacher

Over the years, I've come to realize that experience truly is the best teacher.  It takes time to actually appreciate that, even though intuitively it makes sense. 

As an avid golfer, it makes sense to me that I can only improve by hitting golf balls and playing golf. Reading golf magazines and reading golf books will certainly do something to help, but it will change very little to how I actually play out on the course. 

The same is true with understanding how hair diseases present themselves in humans and how patients respond to treatment. 

Aldous Huxley once said that "experience teaches only the teachable."  As physicians, we must be prepared to learn from our mistakes and learn from times when our minds rushed to a diagnosis that seemed all too obvious. Every now and then, I enjoy looking back at my old charts to reflect on how things have changed through the years and reflect on what experience has really taught me.