I just had a conversation with a few people tonight about medicine and what it entails, and the reality dawned on me once again...
See, while in medical school, many senior colleagues held the notion that medicine is a calling. You had to have a call from God or the universe in order to successfully practice medicine.
I was a confused medical student, and I didn鈥檛 know what to believe. More so, I wasn't really seeing why they were saying that medicine had to be a calling. I was a bloody medical student; I couldn't see it even if I tried.
Well, I finished and began my internship, and it hit me like a gush of cold winter breeze. For the level of commitment that a doctor is required to give, you have to have something pushing you, motivating you, or you are bound to take the exit.
My senior colleagues in medical school called it a calling from God. They knew that it wasn鈥檛 a logical choice to go through the rigours of medicine for the kind of reward that was being offered.
What does it mean to be a Doctor?
A doctor is known to be the person you run to when you are sick 馃あ, and you get some prescription or health advice. Well, that is one kind of doctor, and you may think that is all he does鈥攕ees patients and prescribes medications鈥攗ntil you sit down with a doctor and be an extension of him for a while.
Then the rude realization suddenly jolts you. It鈥檚 not just prescribing meds for you. It鈥檚 everything that leads up to that and everything after that.
More importantly, when you meet a doctor in a hospital setting, it鈥檚 a whole different picture. It鈥檚 not just prescription; it鈥檚 phlebotomy, ultrasound scans, documentation, procedures, surgeries鈥攖he list goes on.
Being a doctor means you get to wear a number of hats for a number of situations that all require your immediate and full attention. Sometimes, you win some; other times, you lose some, and the definition of "lose" is context-specific.
Giving your life to the cause?
It takes an average of 6 to 8 years to train a doctor, depending on where you are and your level of education when you decide to study medicine.
That鈥檚 after you must have left high school and done the A-levels exams, or whatever exams you have to do. You are probably in your early twenties by the time you are finished with medical school. Good news, right?
Well, depending on the area of specialization you would like to pursue, you can have another 5 to 8 years to go before you become a consultant or a specialist in your field. It means that your youthful years have been given to the study of medicine.
More importantly, your life is simply a collection of your time on the earth. So, technically, you鈥檝e given your life to the study of medicine. This doesn鈥檛 mean you stop studying. You鈥檒l still need to study, do courses, and attend seminars depending on the kind of doctor you want to be.
The Justification
Honestly, considering the job of a doctor, I think it is only fair for the doctor to study for an extended period of time because he is managing the lives of people.
If he fails to do his job, people could die.
Bottom line
Being a doctor is no mean feat. The things one has to endure on account of the quest to save lives should be immortalized in stone. Unfortunately, that might break patient confidentiality.
Talking about it tonight made me realize that there鈥檚 a lot being done, and doctors should be even more appreciated.