Becoming a doctor was not part of the plan for Jeff Dunn, MD, who majored in French literature as an undergrad. But when he was forced to take a molecular biology class, just one interaction changed his career trajectory. A fellow student asked a question and the professor responded: "'We don't know the answer to that, but maybe one day you'll find out,'" Dunn recounts in the video above by Stanford Health Care. He continues:
That simple remark changed everything for me because science, which I had known as sort of an encyclopedic exercise of fact memorization, suddenly became uncharted territory, where there was real truth out there to be discovered, and we had the opportunity and the tools to do it.
Wow. Dunn went on to choose neurology as a specialty. It is there that he developed a strong connection to patients suffering from multiple sclerosis -- "I can't explain it to you... to me, they felt like brothers and sisters, I got them."
Currently chief of clinical neuroimmunology, Dunn is optimistic about the prospects for his MS work: "I think we are going to be able to impact the human condition for the better."
Previously: Why become a doctor? A personal story from a Stanford neurosurgeon, Why become a doctor? Here are 10 reasons, and Why become a doctor? A personal story from a Stanford oncologist
