life balance

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Medicine is a jealous lover... Letter to a Young Doctor Series

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Medicine is a jealous lover... Letter to a Young Doctor Series

‘Is there some secret you have learned that you wish you knew earlier?’

‘Medicine is a jealous lover…’

Hello,

Working hard is a tradition in medicine.  The braggadocio around hours of call without sleep, number of patients seen in the ER shift, numbers on the hospital service all speak volumes to the cult of work that is medicine.  By the time you enter medical school, you are already indoctrinated into the cult.  You worked hard in high school to get the right university.  Worked hard in university to get into the right medical school.  Worked hard in medical school to get the right residency. Worked hard in residency to land the perfect job.  There is a theme…. Work.


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Letters to a young doctor… Learning to say No

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Letters to a young doctor… Learning to say No

‘What has been the hardest lesson you have had to learn?’

‘Saying No instead of Yes….’

Hello….

It has been surprising to me that the hardest lesson I learned from Medicine is how to say “No’.  I suspected the lessons in school would be the hardest, maybe the ways to have delicate conversations, or to sit with the dying.  However, nothing comes close to learning to say “No’.