When I was an emergency medicine resident, people asked me “why are you interested in aerospace medicine?”
When I was in business school, people asked me “why is a doctor studying business?”
When I was in photography school, well…no one really cared what I did for a living in photography school.
When I was in creative writing school, people nodded when I said I was a doctor. I had painful stories to share! Lots of them! And a stable gig.
When I was learning how to be a life coach, my colleagues asked me “what does a life coach even do?”
I am used to being an outlier!
Instead of seeing my medical training as a set path to being an emergency doctor, I see it as a foundation for the glorious “and.”
“Medicine and…”
Does that sound even remotely interesting to you?!!
I am very surprised how strange this idea is to many doctors.
When I see doctors who are burnt out try to “diversify” by working in medicine-adjacent fields, I wonder why their field of vision is so narrow.
You could be a neurosurgeon and a stand-up comedian.
Or maybe a family doctor and a bush pilot.
Or maybe a cardiologist and a soldier.
Or an emergency doctor, photoessayist, and life coach.
Before you got into medical school, you were interesting right?
You changed when you became a doctor, didn’t you?
What ideas, experiences, and insights sound interesting and fun?
There’s a great life out there waiting for you.
Question: “What would you do if you revisited something you loved to do as a kid?”
