The words we use make all the difference to how we care and who we are

January 28, 2026 Published by Sharee Johnson

Language is a tricky thing. Sometimes we mean what we say and sometimes it’s something else all together. 

Interpretation, guessing, approximations, social norms, perspectives, biases are all active in our conversations. In the words we use, in the way we use the words.

As if that wasn’t enough to create confusion, in a domain like health there are sub languages that only some people understand. Any patient who has ever read a report about their CT or MRI scan will likely have found a sentence or two they cannot decipher – medical speak, a language doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and their assistants learn. 

And language is powerful at a deep, deep level. The words we use, the tone we use, can include or exclude. The language we use and the way we use it, can determine or undermine our identity at the primal level of belonging, affecting our deeply held sense of self and our sense of safety. Changing the way we are in the world, for better or worse.

That is why we invest time in our Recalibrate program on communication, specifically on the language of metaphor. And on biases, listening and emotions. Recalibrate is a deep investment in your capacity to communicate and connect with other humans, one that can ripple out into your life beyond your work. 

That is also why we are piloting RecalibrateMax in 2026 with our Recalibrate graduates.  

Relationships matter more than anything else for human thriving and doctors are humans first. Yet we spend very little time teaching how to be in relationship, how to communicate in ways that are connecting and promote thriving. 

Medicine is a relational practice. The more AI takes over the delivery of healthcare the more important your relational skills become. The best future medicine will include humans (patients and medics) who add value to the AI driven processes that patients are rapidly adopting.  

Patients already arrive at medical appointments, with information they have gained from private providers like Eucalyptus or from their Whoop device. Doctors who are curious and can join with the patient interpreting the patient’s garnered data, are in collaboration and adding value. Partnering together with the shared goal of patient health.  Patients want to feel cared for by other humans, they want the doctor to help them understand the data (language) and use it for benefit, for health. 

Medical work is changing, even the word healthcare means something different now, with more people using the term to refer to their personalised preventative health plan that measures BP, HRV, glucose, hormones and so much more, without ever going to a traditional healthcare provider (primary or tertiary). 

Language, communication and AI are all tools that help us connect and communicate.  

Do you still believe as a clinician that you offer something the AI cannot, will not soon provide? 

Your words matter, your ability to connect to other humans matter, more than ever.

Human thriving relies on relationships, more than anything else. Recalibrate is designed to enhance and evolve your communication and connection skills. Graduates of Recalibrate have access to an amazing community of doctors who continue to support each other in peer relationships of care and encouragement, across time and borders. To join Recalibrate join the waitlist for the next cohort. 

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Sharee Johnson is the Founder, Managing Director, Principal Coach at Coaching for Doctors. She is the bestselling author of The Thriving Doctor: How to be more balanced and fulfilled, working in medicine and a Registered Psychologist. She has written extensively about doctor wellbeing, performance and coaching, delivers workshops to doctors and speaks at medical conferences. You can connect with her on Linkedin and Instagram.

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Sharee Johnson’s book The Thriving Doctor is available in all good bookstores or online.

Sharee has been coaching doctors since 2014, find out more about her work