Dr Worm

I was just talking to my favorite teacher at school. We've got a good bunch of teachers, but he's noticeably outstanding. Truly, truly gifted at what he does, and clearly loves teaching. I like that, and I'm always interested in people who love what they do: how did they know?

I always wanted to be a doctor. I just did. I also went off and did a lot of other things, some of which I liked, and some of which...not so much. My ostensible reasons for wanting to be a doctor probably changed a lot. One grows up, and has more experience and different expectations of themselves, and the world, and so on. I didn't, last year, particularly expect to become a doctor. I was more or less reconciled to being one of those people who doesn't end up doing what they wanted to, and that's not always the end of the world, or even a particularly big deal. Imagine my surprise when I realised I could apply, and get in, and go to med school and....

Funnily enough, the people who most encouraged me to apply were people who couldn't see why any sane person would want to be a doctor, would never wish to do such a thing themselves, but were all the same quite sure that I should do it. I'm lucky to be old enough to have enough experience to be able to make a somewhat informed decision, I guess. I studied nursing for a bit, and worked in hospitals, and know that I like working with people, even when they're sick. That kind of thing is good to know. But still. It's not so much that I have doubts as that I don't, which is probably worth trying to consider objectively.

I hope I can cope with med school, I hope I'm a good doctor and I really hope that it turns out that I do want to be a doctor, after all, and that I am one of those people who loves what I do.

And I'm pretty certain I can, and will be.

Surely it's when you're certain about something that you should really consider the possibility that you could be wrong. As a matter of policy, anyway, albeit that my attempts at objectivity bring me back to the same conclusion :-)

From my informal polling over the years, seems like there's no general rule amongst people who are great at what they do, and love it. Maybe a bit less than half of them just "knew" at some point, although that point could have been anywhere from childhood to middle age. But at some point, their career became vocational, in the sense that what they wanted to do was part of how they saw themselves as a person, in some way. For the other half, they just sort-of stumbled into it somehow, or tried it and liked it, but they can see themselves quite happily doing something else, too.


The teacher I was talking to this morning did not especially want to be a teacher, it turned out. His marks were good enough to do anything he wanted at uni, so he did the obvious thing.....(wait for it)... and did medicine. And did very well at it. It was, he said, a hard decision; there you are, doing very well in a prestigious course, at a prestigious uni, and everything is great on paper, except that you hate it. Jumped ship to teaching, never regretted it.

I could probably write a whole separate blog on "prestigious universities", but let me just say, while I'm on the subject of doing medicine for the wrong reasons, don't choose a uni for the wrong reasons, either. Talk to people doing the course, and go visit the uni. Don't be tricked into assuming that the sandstone gargoyles and the Times Ranking guarantee that it's the best course, or the best environment, or simply the best choice for you.

I've got no conclusions to offer about this, except for the obvious advice to do what you love, if you know what that is, or atleast do something you might love, and do it for good reasons. Find out, at least, everything you can. Find out why not to do the course, or pursue the career. I know I've said it before, but patients are not universally nice, and they will not adore you and do anything you say. Patients are sick, and often frightened, and sometimes drunk, or on drugs, or abusive, and often unhelpful, and you have no right to expect otherwise. You will get tired, and frustrated, and upset, and people will shout at you, and die when you don't want them to, and it might be more work, shit hours, and not as much money as you'd like to think, and it will be a long, long time until you're qualified. I really do think it should be compulsory to work in a nursing home, or something similar, for a few weeks before UAC offers come out, given how many people who quit medicine seem to do so after they discover that they're not good with sick people. (I always wonder why they never thought of this before). ANyway, I'm ranting, I'll post a link to a blog with which I don't entirely agree, but which is interesting (as are the comments) on why not to do medicine.

http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/abinazir/2005/05/23/why-you-should-not-go-to-medical-school-a-gleefully-biased-rant/