Back to Front PageVOLUME 6, NUMBER 4

Readers Respond

Who or what inspired you to practice medicine? When I was 9 years old, my grandmother developed laryngeal cancer. My grandparents and my family, along with my aunt and her family, lived in the same three-family house. Every evening my mother, sister, and I, along with my aunt and her children, would go to my grandmother's apartment to care for her. What we were doing would now be known as hospice care. I can still remember how much my grandmother appreciated our efforts to help her. I know this experience inspired me to pursue a career in medicine. Steven G. Gabbe, M.D. Dean Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Since childhood I wanted to be a doctor, despite discouragement from my family and my teachers. The appeal lay in the practical application of the science that I learned in chemistry and biology coupled with the opportunity to talk to and work with people who represented the entire spectrum of human experience. Learning in the classroom as well as learning from and with my patients continues to be the inspiration for me. Jean Gray, M.D. Associate Dean, CME Dalhousie University The inspiration to become a doctor was less important than the person who convinced me to return to medical school when I quit after my first year. I worked in a rural program for migrant farm workers and met an isolated, alcoholic doctor who, despite his handicaps and loneliness, dispensed antibiotics, scrub brushes, and nail clippers to families to combat impetigo, which was rampant among farm workers. If he could combat his cynicism about the world and find meaning in the work he did, I thought that I could try medical school again. I did and have never regretted my decision. John J. Frey III, M.D. Professor and Chair, Family Medicine University of Wisconsin at Madison Most of what I learned about dealing with patients I learned from a surgeon - my father. I first learned about the importance of quality patient care from the stories we heard around the dinner table. The year before he died, when I was in college, I had the good fortune to work in the same hospital, make rounds with him, and directly observe his doctoring. Frank A. Jones Jr., M.D. Professor of Psychiatry University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey-Robert Wood JohnsonMedical School The women's movement of the 1970s inspired me to go into medicine. I was in a traditionally female profession, teaching, when I joined a conscious- ness-raising group, read "Our Bodies, Ourselves," and began volunteer work in an adolescent clinic that provided health services. I was moved to start on the path to combining teaching and medicine. Rochelle Shapiro, M.D. Associate Professor, Biomedical Programs Florida Atlantic University I recently realized the influence of my mother's role as the family "health advisor" on my choice of medicine. Family and neighbors sought her advice because of her practical knowledge. A "light bulb" experience occurred in college. I cried when the flower-pot home of worms used in an experiment was disrupted and they died. I realized how much emotional and intellectual energy I had invested in those worms, and decided that I should direct it toward people. My mother set the stage, the worms clinched it! Mary Ann S. Antonelli, M.D. Professor, Department of Medicine Director, Educational Programs University of Hawaii J.A. Burns School of Medicine My mother's stepfather was an old style general practitioner with his office attached to the family home. By the time I was in kindergarten, I'd spent hours watching him interact with patients. I asked plenty of questions, looked at the pictures in his medical magazines, and helped my grandmother sterilize his instruments in large pots of boiling water. I was left with an abiding curiosity about medicine. Laura Fochtmann, M.D. Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences SUNY-Stony Brook Perhaps I am just a contrary individual, but being discouraged was the stimulus to apply for medicine - and there are times that being too stubborn to give up or be content with the way things are "inspires" continuing in the profession. My thanks are due just as much to the stern headmistress of the convent school, the admissions committees of 1965, and all the others along the way who made me fight to value medicine as to the teachers, colleagues, patients, family, friends, and others who provided the more obvious support and positive inspiration. Anne Walling, M.D. Professor and Associate Dean for Faculty University of Kansas School of Medicine I majored in geology and due to football injuries was given a fifth year in undergraduate study to allow completion of my eligibility for varsity ball. In the extra year, I took courses in anthropology and physical geography. I became enthralled with the development of man. The opposable thumb really did it for me. Unfortunately, I had to return to school at night to gain all the premed courses I never had. The rest has been a blur. Michael Grossman, M.D. University of Arizona   Next month's question: Is there cause for concern that resident work hours compromise good education or patient care? If so, how should the academic medicine community respond? Please send your responses (75 words or fewer) to rmuir@aamc.org or fax to (202) 828-1123. Responses must be received by Aug. 15 for consideration, and may be edited for length and clarity. Also, please include your title, institution, and any academic degrees. Select answers will be printed in the September edition of the AAMC Reporter.

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