Balancing Self-Care and Commitment in Medicine

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Balancing work and family life will be an important part of self-care. As I enter the world of medicine, I am expecting to experience some of the most wonderful and agonizing moments of my life. Playing a part in the lives of others is beautiful, but messy, and self-care is essential to good medicine. My radiology rotation, hospice rotation, class discussions, and assigned readings have all contributed to my new understanding of the importance of doing things I enjoy outside of the realm of medicine. It was evident that the radiologists that I shadowed were both experiencing burn out. After being bombarded with multiple CT scans from the emergency department, they expressed their frustration about reading unnecessary scans. They advised me not to choose radiology and to really make sure medicine was what I want to dedicate my life to. Spending countless hours in a dark room reading images and then returning home to adult …show more content…

I will take to heart what Dr. Barron said about feeling worse about oneself as a result of comparing oneself to others. As I move forward in my pursuit of medicine, I hope to break this bad habit. I will strive to do my best and to compete with myself instead of my peers. During my senior year of college, I plan to refrain from discussing grades with friends and to occupy my time focusing on improving myself. One interesting fact that I was unaware of until Micah mentioned in class is that some medical schools have done away with the ranking system. I hope to attend a medical school that practices this policy because I believe it would prevent me from being harsh on myself for not being in the percentile I would like. Doing my best to learn the material should be my goal, and I hope to stop being concerned by how others are doing. Instead of being worried about being the best, I will practice humility and simply try my

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