Day 17 and 18

Blog Entry 14 and 15: 10/07/08-10/08/08

The past two days have been very reflective. After seeing surgeries and some primary care, I definitely have a feeling of what I'm more interested in, which as my blog posts show is surgery. Also, another large realization I had these past two days allowed me to conceptualize why I wanted to become a doctor... I'll explain
There are MANY ways to help others improve their quality of life. You can be a public health administrator involved in health policy and planning, and in turn affect health care programs and ultimately the health status of more people than an individual doctor could. Policemen also improve people's quality of life by keeping us safe, and giving us the security of knowing that our lives aren't in danger (well they do most of the time). Also, Psychologists improve the quality of life for many patients by focusing on mental health. Improving the quality of life is a goal of many professions, and I don't feel that's it can serve as a sole explanation for why someone want to specifically be a doctor; it's a part of a collection of reasons that lead one to become a health professional. After my conversation with Dr. De La Torre, I realized that I want to be a doctor because I like the medicine itself.
What interests me most in the field of medicine is the science behind it. I like knowing the functions of lymphatic pathways, vascular innervations, and neural pathways, and how they interact. I like learning about the mechanisms that viruses use to infect the patient, and what are the outcomes on the biological level. I get a rush while I'm in surgery because it involves deep knowledge of the physiology, pathology, and anatomy of the body. I really liked primary care, not just because I could form meaning relationships with my patients, but also because it required deep knowledge of bodily physiology to figure out the specific pathologies of their condition (well on a basic level for me, I'm not a doctor yet :P).
The science and methods involved in surgery are what gave me that excitement, passion and motivation to pursue particularly the surgical profession as a life goal. To see someone operating on someone else, with such a high level of expertise, fascinated me on a level that's still very hard for me to describe to you. I think that's just how my personality type is; I'm amazed by form, function, and mechanism, and how our knowledge of medicine can allow us to manipulate the body to solve problems. I just love it.
So to summarize, I think improving people's lives should be the basis for any profession. However, one should choose a profession that helps people in a way that most interests him/herself. If you're not interested in what you do, then that means you wont be using 100 percent of your potential for the benefit of those you serve; if your not using all of your potential then you're wasting your time because the outcome of your fruition won't be the best possible outcome. Personally, If I'm not interested in something, it's very hard to put the effort and commitment required by any type of work to create any worthwhile outcome, and there really is no point in half-assing something you're going to be doing for the rest of your life, especially in the case of health, where the repercussions decide the future of people lives.
Also to note, I think the intricacy of the body is a testament and sign of how amazing God really is.