Forks In the Road

By NORTIN HADLER, MD On Saturday, Dr. Hadler delivered the commencement address at the University of Michigan Medical School.  THCB is pleased to feature his remarks.  Thank you, Class of 2015, for the privilege of sharing this special occasion with you, your families and the community that has come together to celebrate with you. This is a rare day of pure self-indulgence. Our professional life allows little room for self-indulgence and seldom applauds when one of us makes the room. For those of you who are drawn to a career anchored at the bedside, the trade-off is the quiet, internalized quest to become the best physician you can be. I have pursued this goal nearly all my life – literally, I have been working in hospitals since I was 12. If I had it to do over, I would pursue the same goal. This goal demands expertise. Expertise requires intellect and discipline. I have a superabundance of both and so do you. Expertise is necessary but not sufficient.  More than expertise, one must understand myriad contexts in which illness plays out. Medicine is not a science. Medicine is a philosophy informed by science. I was a medical student when this dawned on me. Like you, I entered clinical rotations brimming with the pathophysiology of all those diseases that are poised to smite a mighty blow. Was I missing the forest for the biochemistry? Many of our patients are elderly patient and plagued by more than one serious disease. As we set to the task of confronting each in t...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: THCB Source Type: blogs