Becoming Doctors 25 Years Later: Twenty five physicians sharing the journey from medical student to retirement

by Clovercroft Publishing

Overview

Twenty-five years after graduating from America’s top medical schools, twenty-five physicians from a dozen specialties share the joys and struggles of learning and practicing medicine today.

After studying at Brown, Cornell, Emory, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, Yale and a dozen more medical schools, these doctors went on to become emergency medicine physicians, family practitioners, gynecologists, internists, obstetricians, pediatricians, psychiatrists, and surgeons across the United States. Today, while working alongside the clinical soldiers and scientists protecting our citizens from this pandemic, these physicians tell us of the gratification, joy and fulfillment of their work coupled with their experiences of uncertainty, fear, and disappointment practicing medicine over three decades. Their essays, stories, drawings, and poems form a unique anthology, capturing their aspirations and struggles as students and their challenges and successes as physicians, parents, and teachers. Not surprisingly, when asked whether they would make the same career choice or whether they would recommend a career in medicine for their children, they reaffirm the decision to become doctors. Perhaps such predictability is best explained by an innovative thinker and gracious teacher from the past century, Albert Einstein, who said, “only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” These physicians have done just that.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781950892983
Publisher:	Clovercroft Publishing
Publication date:	06/29/2021
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Twenty-five doctors working as emergency medicine physicians, family practitioners, gynecologists, internists, obstetricians, pediatricians, psychiatrists, and surgeons across the United States share their personal insights and oversights of learning, practicing, and teaching medicine for the past three decades. From their medical school experiences at Brown, Cornell, Emory, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, Yale and a dozen more medical schools, to the present day of practicing among a pandemic, they write about the struggle and reward of being doctors in the 2020s. These seventeen women and eight men transformed their opportunity to study medicine into careers that profoundly impacted the lives of their communities and as well as their own. Compiled by Par Bolina, M.D. who resides in Nashville, Tennessee, their stories describe the remarkable lifelong journey of becoming a doctor.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Clinic Joanne Wilkinson 1

Dinnertime Joanne Wilkinson 7

Personal Statement Keith D. Mortman 10

Twenty-Five Years Keith D. Mortman 12

Science Camp Gillian S. Herald 14

My Year with Suzanne Gillian Herald Friedman 15

Going for the Jugular Melissa Schiffman 17

A Morning Breath Melissa Schiffman 26

Postlude Lisa M. Gibbs 29

Memoir (2020) Lisa M. Gibbs 30

Something for John Shelby Lynette Clay 32

Focusing Shelby Clay-Rogers 34

The Winding Road Ahead Lisa Christopher 37

Vulnerability and a Twenty-Five-Year Journey of the Unknown Lisa Christopher Stine 40

The Role of Uncertainty as a Tool of Discovery in My Life James Eric Bermudez 43

The Physician's Optimal Role in the Healing Process James Eric Bermudez 46

Gross Anatomy Lisa L. Wong 50

Trading Places Lisa L. Wong 51

Not Just Another Night on Call Joshua Weil 53

Life Turns on a Dime Joshua Weil 56

Desperate for Dawn Warren R. Dunn 62

Surrender Warren R. Dunn 63

The Right Profession Stephanie P. Swafford 64

The Right Profession-Part II Stephanie Swafford Bruce 68

Telegram from Another Planet Jan Steckel 70

You Can Scrub Out Any Time You Like, but You Can Never Leave Jan Steckel 73

20120 Then - ink Sue Rhee 78

20120 Now - iPencil Sue Rhee 79

After the Storm Leanne Marie Yanni 80

Each Has Made the Other Understand Leanne Yanni 82

Long, Long Ago Mary C. Rorro 85

The Greatest Gift Mary C. Rorro 86

Life Choices H.E. Guy Burman 92

Full Circle Sarah Wendy Burman 94

A Long-Overdue Letter to an Old Friend Richard A. Mularski 98

Twenty-Five Years Later: Another Heartfelt and Bit Reflective Letter to My Good Friend Richard A. Mularski 102

View from Elsewhere Melissa Marks Sparrow 106

I Have Intubated Children Melissa Marks Sparrow 108

Mrs. S. Rachel Burdick Vinkey 114

Twenty-Five Years Rachel Burdick Vinkey 115

End of the Honeymoon Keith Scott Dickerson 118

Silver Anniversary-End of the Honeymoon Revisited Keith Scott Dickerson 118

Trapped on the First-Year Roller Coaster Allison Beitel 124

Broken Hearts Allison Beitel 131

Soul Survivor Adam Strassberg 134

Fish Gone, Going Fishing Adam Strassberg 140

Learning to Listen Louise C. Greenspan 146

Just Like Me Louise C. Greenspan 149

My Duty Par Bolina 151

Medicine's Dilemma Par Bolina 152

Acknowledgements 165

About the Editor 166