my "why medicine"
originally published through Humans of Georgetown, a reflection on what got me here (for posterity)
Medicine didn’t call to me for a long time. I didn’t believe that something so serious and scientific and rigid was the fit for me. I dabbled in computer science, consulting, social work and education, searching for something that I couldn’t quite identify yet. I got into medical school in college and I deferred it for a year to work as a second grade teacher through TFA and a stint that I thought might push me further away from medicine drew me right back in.
Near the end of the school year one of my students who had struggled with her writing all year long was tasked with her final paper. I can still see it in my mind, her little face scrunched up in frustration, arms crossed belligerently, and then her looking up at me, smiling, and scribbling on a sticky note that she then pressed into my hand. She marched back to her seat, sat still as best she could, and wrote for the entire hour, and the note said “I can do anything, because you love me”.
I think about that note all the time, it changed my life. Nothing has ever made me want to become a doctor more. To have the opportunity to be there for people in their most vulnerable times, to listen, to share, and to love them into believing that they are strong enough to get through this is such an honor.
I sit next to my patients and I tell them all that no matter what happens they won’t be alone and I mean it every time. I listen to their stories and I share mine and we become friends and most of them I never see again but for a minute or an hour or the length of their hospital stay we have each other and we know each other in a way that nobody else ever will. I think the most beautiful part of medicine is that with every little interaction we forever change our patients and each other and ourselves too.
Through medical school my perception of medicine has changed so much. I've found that there's space for literature and art as well as human connection, understanding, and love. By making space for those things medicine becomes more than just a science, it becomes a force to be reckoned with. With just a year and a half to go, with the love of all the people in my life behind me, I too know that I can do anything, including becoming a force to be reckoned with myself.
Aditi, this is beautiful and profoundly moving. How you describe medicine—as more than a science, but as an art, a human connection, a shared moment that forever alters both doctor and patient—is profoundly comforting.
Your patients are incredibly fortunate to have you by their side, not just as a healer but as someone who truly sees them, listens to them, and walks with them, even if only for a moment.
The world needs more physicians like you—ones who recognize that medicine is as much about the heart as it is about the mind. And from how you write, I do not doubt you will be a force to be reckoned with.
Wishing you all the strength, wisdom, and joy on the rest of your journey. The future of medicine is brighter with you in it. 💙
Hello Aditi, thank you so much for writing the post! I keep thinking if medicine is the right fit for me and keep trying to avoid it. I love biology and I want to help others but chemistry is giving me grief. However I seem to come back to the idea of medicine… but I am scared that I won’t be able to handle the rigors of medicine. Any suggestions?