Guest contributor and New York internist Danielle Ofri, MD, poses an interesting question on the Well blog today: Why do people choose to become doctors? Outlining the "warts of medicine," including the "impossible time constraints and ever more onerous bureaucratic demands," Ofri admits that she sometimes questions why so many people continue entering medical school to become clinicians. But yet:
The awe of discovering the human body. The honor of being trusted to give advice. The gratitude for helping someone through a difficult illness. These things never grow old.
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When I close the door to the exam room and it’s just the patient and me, with all the bureaucracy safely barricaded outside, the power of human connection becomes palpable. I can’t always make my patients feel better, but the opportunity to try cannot be underestimated.
