to my fellow premeds

normal setup in haiti

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I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:

I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.

I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.

I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.

I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.

I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.

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the above passage is the modern rendition of the hippocratic oath. a lot of medical students recite this as the enter medical school, typically during the white coat ceremony. i feel like so many pre-med students at my school fail to realize the amount of power a physician holds. a physician decides things that determine some of the most important facets of someone's life, if not life itself. medicine and surgical procedures are quite potent; they are not things that should be issued on whim. a physician becomes an intermediary between illness and health, life and death, healing and deteriorating. being a physician doesn't imply "financial security" or affluence. it's not about material luxuries or monetary goods. it means being obligated to improve current society.

so many pre-med students at my college drop out of the pre-medicine curriculum because they feel that it's too much work, too much school, offers too little time, gives too much pressure, takes away other freedoms. they feel that it's too much work for not enough money, too much time spent in place of other activities, too much education in exchange for a lesser life. 

i'm glad that students like that drop out of pre-medicine. how is a doctor who is perpetually reminded of the things he or she is missing out or losing going to be able to wholeheartedly focus on a patient? these students are the students who just give up. do we really want quitters in our medicine workforce? "oh, that operation is too time consuming so we're just not going to do it." 

some students stay in pre-med because they are attracted by the potential wealth and respect a physician acquires. but if you are pursuing medicine because of these things, i urge you to reconsider and take up business or something that doesn't allow you to hold life and death in your hands. 

i'm not perfect either, i know. but one of the greatest reasons i am trekking on this narrow path called pre-medicine is that i want to be able to see a former patient and say, "i helped you get well." i want to be able to see that through my efforts, someone is given a chance at a second life. to be the giver of that solution is strong indeed. 

last summer, i went to haiti with some college students and doctors to give medical treatment to the hundreds of people in the backcountry of haiti. we went from church to church, hosting medical clinics. people would come in and tell us their problem, and we would try to solve it, be it through medication or minor surgical procedure. although at the time i was an incoming senior in high school, i was allowed to talk to patients via translator and determine the treatment that was needed. most of the time it was something as simple as vitamins, or iron tablets, or maybe amoxicillin. sometimes it would require special antibiotics or medication. other times still, injections or minor surgery was needed. 

i would find myself become almost like a vending machine with patients: they plugged in the problem and i spat out the treatment. i viewed the patients, towards the end of my stay there, as a list of problems that i would decipher into a solution. but in retrospect, i see that the things that we did had a wholesome impact on their lives. that is, because of their relief from symptoms of hypertension, they could now get water or farm for their family. because of relief from arthritis they could walk the half mile to see their grandsons and daughters. we didn't cure symptoms--we cured a person. and i know that when i become a physician, i will remind myself during times when i feel apathetic, that my patients are people themselves with futures. the things i do will determine their quality of life. 

i'm not sure how to end this. and i forget what my initial point was. and i'm pretty sure this whole thing was poorly written. but in any case, don't be apathetic. and don't be premed from the wrong reasons.