hippocrates

 Οὐκ ἔνι ἰατρικήν εἰδέναι, ὅστις μή οἶδεν ὅ τι ἐστίν ἄνθρωπος. 
            It is not possible to know medicine without knowing what a human is.

            Wherever the art of Medicine is loved, there is also a love of Humanity. 

Hippocratic aphorisms like this one are quite timeless.

Why study medicine? Because it brings your life into intersection with those of so many others -- often at their most intimate and difficult moments, you can provide assistance and become a pillar of strength to them. One's health and their life history are inextricably bound. Even if it simply taking a patient history, I realize how much of someone's story can be consolidated into a few comments -- a disorder that has affected them their whole life can be summarized sometimes in a neat paragraph, despite the details being anything but simple.  I realized how much of a privilege it is for a physician to be able to hear these stories and to use your clinical training and your experience to be of service -- everyday of your career. It is an honor very few other professions have, and it is why so many physicians I have shadowed have been some of the hardest working individuals I have ever met. They care deeply about the patients they are responsible for -- they maintain the highest standards of professional integrity because they expect no less from themselves, and expect no less to be given to their patients. Based on my own experiences volunteering and teaching where I was able to be of-service to others, I can't imagine any other profession more personally worthwhile.

Perri Klass 

So if you find your cause, make room for it in your already crowded life. Your life will surely be crowded, but you will get to choose all the different elements that cause the crowding. Your life will be crowded with skills, I hope, and with meaning and connections--and stories. 

Find something that works for you--a place where you belong--and do the job properly. Take good care of your patients, take good care of the people you love, and take good care of yourself. 

What an excellent, complicated, interesting job you've chosen. I believe you will do it well and honourably, which will mean a good and complicated and interesting life for you, and great comfort and healing for the many people whose lives you will touch.