Sacrifice and Medicine
Too many times, I have often been tagged as being overzealous or melodramatic when talking about the field of medicine. The truth is I can’t help it. Why? It’s because I fought long and hard to be where I am now.
I am just an average person. I was not born with some phenomenal talent or genius-level intelligence. Many times, I stared at my classmates in envy of their talent, intellect and achievement. Whenever there was an award to be won, you can bet that was not mine.
However, I have been blessed other qualities that did help me immensely on my journey towards becoming a doctor. One quality I will dwell on in this write up is Sacrifice.
Merriam-Webster defines sacrifice as “the act of giving up something that you want to keep especially in order to get or do something else or to help someone”. So as a young medical student what did I want? I was at the age when I wanted to have fun. After graduating from college, I did want to spend my time hanging out with friends and go to places I’ve never been to.
Let me admit that medicine was not even a choice of mine when it came to a career as I have always been fascinated with airplanes. There was even a temptation for me to enroll in Aviation school rather than Medical school.
Nevertheless, I still did enter Medical school halfheartedly and spent my years just going with the flow. If there was a quiz, I studied to pass not to top. I was content doing the bare minimum it took for me to get through it.
Despite the minimalist attitude I had, I did miss a lot of things in my life. As a medical student, I missed too many good times with my friends. Friends outside of the medical field will never understand that you really have no time to spare on weekends especially if you have two to three exams coming up on Monday.
Some of my friends actually gave up inviting me to any get –together and there are those whom I never heard from again. It was depressing but I know there was something I had to do and I was afraid of risking five hours of cramming over an hour of pleasure.
The sacrifice did not end there. When my aunt who was very close to me died, I could not pay my final respects at her funeral because I had an important exam on that very day. I took the examination in tears, thinking about the great times I had spent with my aunt and how I loathed the situation where I had to miss the last time I would ever see her physical body.
After Medical school, I went into internship and the sacrifice did not end there. I missed many holidays and Christmas with my family. I missed too many joyous occasions with friends and family because I could not absent myself from duty.
It was the same story when I started preparing for the board exams. After passing it, the sacrifices still persisted. Believe it or not, I was only able to spend Christmas with my family after nearly seven years from the time I got into medical school.
To be a healer, sacrifices must be made. We sacrifice ourselves because we consider the welfare of our patients over ours. It is sad that nowadays doctors seem to the target of the misguided disrespect of countless ignorant netizens when they all have no idea the hardship and sacrifices we and our parents had to make in order to for us to save the life of another.
The study of medicine is an introduction to the extreme sacrifice that doctors will have to selflessly give during their lifelong career. It is rigorous and tedious for a reason. It weeds out the people who think more of themselves then the welfare of others.
Every medical student experiences a time when they start to question the worth of undergoing such hardships. Sleepless nights, separation from loved ones and failed romantic relationships are all part of the parcel when becoming a doctor. Some will quit while others will keep going. In the end, those who sacrifice themselves gladly are the ones who make it.
I have always said it time and again that medicine is not merely a test of intelligence but a test of character too. Such hardships are required for people who will someday be entrusted with the lives of others.
Till next time.
