The last decade of my life has surely been both the best and hardest years of my life. I graduated medical school, followed that with 3 more residency and fellowship graduations, got married, had two children, one 6-week NICU stay, bought our dream house, and started my dream job, just to name a few things.
I was recently asked to write something about what brings me joy in my job, which got me thinking about these last ten years. I often ask myself, if I knew what I know now before starting medical school, if I would still do it again. The real answer is I don’t know.
The good news is that I don’t have to do it again. The even better news is that most of the time I love my job. As I started thinking about what brings me joy about Pediatric Neurology, I could feel a giant smile on my face. I thought about my relationships with my patients. I know that no matter what kind of day I am having, that as soon as I start seeing patients, I will feel better. Most of my patient’s families know that I treat every child as if they were my own.
There are many other things about being a doctor that I love and bring me joy, including working with lots of amazing and intelligent people, learning new things every week, and having the opportunity to teach and mentor other trainees and colleagues.
As my mind often does, it started to wander. I took some time to think about what these last ten years meant to me, not just for my job, but for my overall happiness. Even through the years of long work hours, time apart from my partner, sleep deprived nights from work and children, and changes to healthcare that make being a doctor a little bit different than what I thought it was going to be, I can honestly say that I am exactly where I want to be. I have the privilege to wake up happy and with a smile on my face (most days).
So, cheers to 2020! I hope you find yourself exactly where you want to be. And if you don’t, that’s ok too. Celebrating a new decade and a new year are arbitrary human constructs, but regardless, any opportunity to inspire us to be better and make change should be welcomed. May 2020 be the year where you start pursuing or continue to chase your dreams, where you realize that you can’t change others but you can change how you react to them, and a time when you can find peace inside yourself.
