I stride into work looking like Reese Witherspoon. All my patients have actual emergencies, and I never touch a keyboard or click a mouse.

When conflict arises, I navigate deftly through the drama with interpersonal grace, winning the adulation of patients and staff. Cue credits.

That’s Hollywood medicine. In real medicine, the acting might not be as good, but we non-movie-star physicians learn to role play. We suppress our inner dialogue and honest comments, and we strive to find the movie-perfect words to resolve conflict.

But real medicine is messy, and we don’t always win the adulation of patients and staff. We make people mad despite our best intentions. Then what?