Aidian Sasenarine – U1 Sophie Davis Class of 2030
As a current freshman in college, I understand that the path to be a physician is going to be a long winding road. The journey to this destination, however, is the most vital component as the experience I gain along the way will help shape who I want to be as a physician. So, “Who do I want to be as a physician?” I desire to be a physician who treats his patients like family. Never giving less than my full effort, I hope that I can fully treat every single patient that walks through my office. I hope that the patients who walk into my office already has a sense of comfortability. When talking to patients I hope that my word choice, explanations and terminology are clear, and if not, I will be able to create a discussion where my patients can fully understand the science behind their illness. In total, I want to be nothing less than the best physician. I understand that these are desires of all aspiring physicians, and those who do not care to uphold these standards rarely admit to it, so the question becomes, “How Do I Become This Physician I Desire to Be”.
Being the best physician may seem comical to others. Those people may look upon this task as daunting or may find this task to be impossible, however, it is a necessary requirement in order to put your best foot forward. Even if the idea of treating every patient to perfection is impossible, striving for anything less is already closing the doors on patients that desperately need help and are deemed “untreatable”. As a result, the first step to become the best physician starts within myself. I will have to be able to keep an open mind when treating patients. Furthermore, I would have to be able to keep the door wide open on a patient in critical condition, not just putting a wedge to prevent that door from closing. The difference is clear. A wide open door signals that I will do everything in my power to treat that patient, while the door stopper is simply giving half-hearted statements to maintain the image that the physician who has their door wide open is doing. As a result there is a difference between trying and doing. Moreover, the best physician is not going to be the perfect physician. Despite being a fictional movie, the 2016 film Doctor Strange highlights the idea of a perfect doctor. Prior to his accident, Doctor Strange only took patients that appeared to benefit his status. In the example of a US Army Colonel, he refused his neurosurgery as it was a “simple fix” rendering his surgery a waste of time. Even more, he did not even open his door to patients that had little chance of survival as he did not want to ruin his perfect record of healing patients (Marvel Cinematic Database). This highlights how perfect physicians are far from the best as they close doors to maintain their status.
This is not a task that aspiring physicians has to face alone. This is why the journey to physician hood is extremely important. I was first exposed to this in my first semester writing class where my professor reminded my class everyday that we have to believe that we are “exceptionally excellent”, and that we are going to be the “best physicians on this planet”. He not only made us believe that we could achieve this status of greatness, but he detailed through anecdotes, metaphors and stories of self motivation that this possibility could be a reality. Self motivation, a key lifelong learning habit is the seeds that start the foundation as the best physicians. Scot Geller in his Ted-Talk, The Psychology of Self Motivation, highlights his story and concludes that to be self-motivated is to read ahead. It is to be immersed within the task you are doing, and for physicians, it is to be submerged within every aspect of a patient’s story: culture, family, status, pain. This way the physician will be just as fixated on finding the solution as the patient is to be cured. This is the meaning of self-motivation. It is something that has to be trained, especially with the decrease in attention span in recent decades. It is difficult to be completely set on a task that does not directly impact you, but it is a necessary good for the betterment of you as a physician and the healing of a patient.
I hope that this introduction details the difference between trying and doing, and what it means to be the best physician. Moreover, this introduction highlights the experience I already obtained on through one part of this long road trip and why building on self-motivation now is imperative to the success of patients in the future. For Scott Geller, self-motivation came from being immersed with playing the drums. Analogously, self-motivation in the doctors office is a passion that cannot be stolen. In the rest of the portfolio I detail how my perspective will be shaped by other ideas the resources needed to help me make those ideas a reality for me. For me, my passion for treating others needs to burn as bright as my passion for my hobbies, like basketball. So in the words of a rookie Steph Curry “I want to be known as a true professional, and a guy who played the game the right way” (Curry, 2010), where for me, the game Curry plays is going to be the goal I execute with treating patients.
References:
Doctor Strange Marvel Cinematic Database: https://marvelcinematicdatabase.fandom.com/wiki/Doctor_Strange#:~:text=Strange%20only%20took%20on%20patients,one%20any%20neurosurgeon%20can%20fix.
Stephen Curry’s Rookie Goals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXI4sp7oRA4
Life Long Learning Module – The Psychology of Self Motivation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sxpKhIbr0E
Literature Cited (APA):
Doctor Strange. (n.d.). Marvel Cinematic Database. Retrieved April 23, 2024, from https://marvelcinematicdatabase.fandom.com/wiki/Doctor_Strange#:~:text=Strange%20only%20took%20on%20patients
Geller, S. (2013). The psychology of self-motivation | Scott Geller | TEDxVirginiaTech [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sxpKhIbr0E
Rookie Steph Gets Asked “Where will you be in 10 years?” 🙏. (n.d.). Www.youtube.com. Retrieved April 23, 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXI4sp7oRA4
Philippians 4-13: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me
