Next week I'll be headed down to Moab for a Wilderness Advanced Life Support class. I'm excited for a number of reasons not the least of which is that my whole family will be meeting me there and my dad and I are taking the course together. My dad is one hell of a surly, and excellent, ER doc (formerly family practice) and one of the original members of the Wilderness Medical Society. I've been going to their conferences with him since I was pretty young and I've had the opportunity to meet some cool people (Like Dr. Auerbach, and Alex Lowe among others) and learn a lot about 'improv' medicine- which seems to fit well with EMS.You see, the people I meet at these conferences give me hope that I won't be miserable if I become a doctor. To often I'm around docs who are workaholics and have completely martyred themselves for the cause. But, at the WMS meetings I've meet doctors (and nurses, and PAs) who have been able to combine their passions of medicine and the outdoors. They are all very much more happy than your average doctor. Most of them use their high level of income to work less (and, gasp, make less money) and play more. They are the doctors I look up to, not the overworks asshole attendings I am usually around.
I'm not opposed to working hard but in the end it has to be worth it. 80 hours a week once your outside of a residency isn't worth it to me. Combining my passions is.
4 comments:
Well put. It's a great week and you'll love it. Good luck with your career.
Hey "Theodore"...this sounds too cool. i hope you enjoy it, it will be a great experience for you, of that i am certian. Moab...??? How did i jus k n o w that you were in Utah...?! ; )
Trust me to put a damper on things, i had to miss my emt-b state test because of, among other things, finger surgery two days before the exam...$#@^~!! Now for the hassle of trying to get another date, another partner and all the paperwork together...sigh. This week, my class will be getting their letters...sigh, i must quit obsessing. But i knew you, of anyone, would understand. Thanks for listening to my ramble.
Best with what sounds like a great adventure and thanks for a terrific blog, tracy
JJ MD: Thanks for the comments, I'm sure I'll love it. Moab + interesting medical stuff.... good combo
Tracy: That's a bummer about your test. I had to move my practical too so I wasn't able to take it with my class (I took it about a month later). It was a pain, I forgot my ID at home, somehow talked them into letting me take the test with a paycheck stub as proof of ID. We didn't have to set up a partner though, they had one of the two instructors in the room who would act as our lackey!
I'm sure you'll do fine! Just remember: BSI; blood goes round and round, air goes in and out, and fix anything that differs from that ;)
Thanks for your kind comments as well as your story "Theo", it really made me feel better, i appreciate it so much.
Sorry about y o u r test experience, so glad it all turned out good.
best always, tracy
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