So many doctors have an origin story that's rooted in Illusion of Control.
I became an oncologist because my mother died of cancer. I became an neurosurgeon because my cousin died of a brain tumor. They built a whole personality around a scared kid who vowed that one day they would know what is in the darkness and defeat it. But the darkness is vast and our time is very short.
We are just beginning to talk about how many doctors are walking around with PTSD they got on the job. Nobody is talking about the ones who already had it before they even got accepted into college.
That's cynical. They might wish to help others avoid their misery which is an admirable goal. Just like many people who have been starving are very keen to share food.
It might well be cynical; but it is nonetheless true that many doctors suffer from the stress of the job. A very smart schoolfriend of mine studied medicine and became a general practitioner. He stuck to it for about ten years before giving up because the weight of responsibility was too much for him; he moved into bespoke software for medical practices instead.
I became an oncologist because my mother died of cancer. I became an neurosurgeon because my cousin died of a brain tumor. They built a whole personality around a scared kid who vowed that one day they would know what is in the darkness and defeat it. But the darkness is vast and our time is very short.
We are just beginning to talk about how many doctors are walking around with PTSD they got on the job. Nobody is talking about the ones who already had it before they even got accepted into college.