WHY MEDICINE?
Because everyone asks me this – I found an old conversation I had so it’s not the greatest prose but it’ll do for now.
1. Personal reasons which I don't feel comfortable talking about here.
2. I think medicine is so diverse - something for everybody. You wanna do public policy? You can do that. You wanna do research like me? You can do that. You wanna be a pure clinician? That’s cool too. You wanna be an introvert? That’s aite. You wanna smash things together for a living like an orthopod? That’s cool. There’s just so much you can do.
3. It's one of the areas that has had relatively little innovation over the last century and needs ambitious people to shake things up
4. It's powerful. How many people in our society can comfort a dying stranger? Or save a dying stranger? Share a dying man’s demons? "Saving lives" is overused, but when you do pull someone away from the edge of death, there are few words to describe the feeling.
5. I get to meet really cool people from all walks of life in a respectful, honored space. Sure, the guy at any restaurant meets people from all walks of life, but a good number are gonna be assholes.
"One question I've had is, what do you when you're really tired and don't want to do more. Not that this happens often but I feel like it's something I would have to face. I guess, what keeps you going?"
Lots of things:
Your peers give you support.
Your team is still chugging and they need you.
Your patients need you.
You can't quit on them because you're having a bad day.
So you keep going.
-Andrew
Because everyone asks me this – I found an old conversation I had so it’s not the greatest prose but it’ll do for now.
1. Personal reasons which I don't feel comfortable talking about here.
2. I think medicine is so diverse - something for everybody. You wanna do public policy? You can do that. You wanna do research like me? You can do that. You wanna be a pure clinician? That’s cool too. You wanna be an introvert? That’s aite. You wanna smash things together for a living like an orthopod? That’s cool. There’s just so much you can do.
3. It's one of the areas that has had relatively little innovation over the last century and needs ambitious people to shake things up
4. It's powerful. How many people in our society can comfort a dying stranger? Or save a dying stranger? Share a dying man’s demons? "Saving lives" is overused, but when you do pull someone away from the edge of death, there are few words to describe the feeling.
5. I get to meet really cool people from all walks of life in a respectful, honored space. Sure, the guy at any restaurant meets people from all walks of life, but a good number are gonna be assholes.
"One question I've had is, what do you when you're really tired and don't want to do more. Not that this happens often but I feel like it's something I would have to face. I guess, what keeps you going?"
Lots of things:
Your peers give you support.
Your team is still chugging and they need you.
Your patients need you.
You can't quit on them because you're having a bad day.
So you keep going.
-Andrew