Lately, I’ve been thinking about what it means to adapt. In academic medicine, we live in a constant state of evolution — of technologies, discoveries, and expectations. The ability to bend without breaking, to learn and innovate in the face of change, defines our success far more than any single breakthrough.
While adaptability is a concept that is often brought up in times of adversity, in fact we practice and build this resilience day in and day out. Nowhere do we prove our skill for this more than in how we manage uncertainty.
In education, uncertainty is not a threat but a catalyst. Curious students ask questions and wrestle with unknowns they seek to discover, guided by teachers who experiment just as boldly. Sometimes the lesson lands, sometimes it falters. That all of us learn — both despite and because of these uncertainties — reinforces our strength.
Similarly, the practice of science is defined by exploring the unknown. The job of scientists is to identify the questions they need to ask, to advance a body of knowledge as information comes in, and act on their findings. A good scientist learns to be comfortable being wrong — to pivot when the data demand it. That this scientific method both relies on and endures through this process of adaptation is key to its resilience — and ours.
For physicians, uncertainty remains deeply personal. Medicine demands not only technical mastery, but the courage to adapt — to act amid doubt. New technologies are increasingly reducing uncertainty and improving clinical care as they allow us to enhance our best guesses with data-driven, predictive models. But at the bedside, where unpredictable, external forces can influence outcomes, we balance evidence and empathy, offering hope without guarantees.
The resilience of academic medicine could not be more important in these times. While we cannot predict the future or control the world around us, we can continue to rely on what we know to be true and effective. We can train new clinicians and scientists to carry our shared knowledge and values to the patients who depend on them. And we can focus on our powers of innovation to find solutions and new ways of doing what we do best.
If we keep our focus on what we know to be right and on the people who rely on us, then change itself becomes our ally. Adaptation, after all, is not just how we survive. It’s how we move science and medicine forward.
Robert A. Harrington, M.D.
Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean, Weill Cornell Medicine
Provost for Medical Affairs, Cornell University
Portrait: Sam Kerr
