There’s this prevailing theme in modern medicine that I don’t understand. It’s called: “Do no harm to others, but neglect yourself.”
It’s perpetuated by ridiculous working hours, emotional, psychological and sometimes physical stress, minimal vacation and maximum pressure to always do a little more. Did you overwork yourself as an undergrad, watch your hair fall out during MCAT studying, then give up family and friends for a fire hydrant of information to the mouth in med school, while simultaneously volunteering, doing research and maybe even juggling a couple kids or a second degree, just to watch yourself burn out in residency? Well, then you should definitely do a fellowship. After residency, did you add another three years of interest on a vomit-inducing sum of loans for a $10-an-hour fellowship that makes you only-just-competitive-enough for your dream job? Well, then you should consider churning out a few extra publications to beef up that CV! Now that you are finally a working physician and have found an hour to spare every month to catch a fleeting glimpse of one of your children’s band performances, you should definitely consider being on the board of something. Don’t worry, you will be compensated! Not handsomely, but just enough for you to choose evening meetings over quality time with your spouse and kids.
Let me divulge a major trade secret. It. Never. Ends.
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