It's February, and I know that this can be a time when people tend to lose some steam or get disillusioned. I just wanted to post an optimistic thread of encouragement to all of you who might be wondering if the journey is even worth it. I'm here to tell you that it is.
I'm a second year psychiatry resident and I can honestly tell you that I love being a doctor. Every minute isn't rainbows and sunshine but being a doctor is the best job in the world and I'll tell you why.
When I come home from work, I know that I've made a difference. There are people on this planet who are living because I took the time to help them. There are people who are able to work and feel fulfilled because of my interventions. It's easy to get disillusioned and say "yeah, but if it wasn't me, it would be somebody else," but that's not the point. The point is that in this field of work, you get to profoundly impact people in ways that mean the world to them and give them back things that are priceless.
Even when people are being incredibly difficult, dealing with these people with benevolence and grace is just part of the powerful beauty of this job. You have to treat belligerent, entitled people, criminals and murderers just as you would world leaders. Even when people are being terrible or have done terrible things, you treat them with dignity as a human being. This is not to say that you never stand up for yourself, but the mere fact that you hold a sacrosanct duty to society is a huge responsibility that there is tremendous honor in upholding. Many people don't know or don't care what you've sacrificed to be able to treat them in that moment. Some of them will complain about the poor "service" they've gotten. Many of those people aren't even going to pay their hospital bill. They look at this like a transaction because in that moment they're scared, they feel small and the model of a transaction gives them some sense of power and control. You know the reality that you're bound by ethics and duty to treat them, and the compensation is just an ancillary arrangement to make this situation feasible. You let them have whatever dignity they can find as victims of an undignified reality and go on doing your job.
The things that make this job tough and thankless are often the things that make it beautiful. This is a valuable and noble profession and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
I'm a second year psychiatry resident and I can honestly tell you that I love being a doctor. Every minute isn't rainbows and sunshine but being a doctor is the best job in the world and I'll tell you why.
When I come home from work, I know that I've made a difference. There are people on this planet who are living because I took the time to help them. There are people who are able to work and feel fulfilled because of my interventions. It's easy to get disillusioned and say "yeah, but if it wasn't me, it would be somebody else," but that's not the point. The point is that in this field of work, you get to profoundly impact people in ways that mean the world to them and give them back things that are priceless.
Even when people are being incredibly difficult, dealing with these people with benevolence and grace is just part of the powerful beauty of this job. You have to treat belligerent, entitled people, criminals and murderers just as you would world leaders. Even when people are being terrible or have done terrible things, you treat them with dignity as a human being. This is not to say that you never stand up for yourself, but the mere fact that you hold a sacrosanct duty to society is a huge responsibility that there is tremendous honor in upholding. Many people don't know or don't care what you've sacrificed to be able to treat them in that moment. Some of them will complain about the poor "service" they've gotten. Many of those people aren't even going to pay their hospital bill. They look at this like a transaction because in that moment they're scared, they feel small and the model of a transaction gives them some sense of power and control. You know the reality that you're bound by ethics and duty to treat them, and the compensation is just an ancillary arrangement to make this situation feasible. You let them have whatever dignity they can find as victims of an undignified reality and go on doing your job.
The things that make this job tough and thankless are often the things that make it beautiful. This is a valuable and noble profession and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
