How you can find your purpose as a doctor
Is becoming a doctor your purpose in life? Find out whether you have the qualities to be a good doctor and some of the rewards of a career in medicine.
Doctors are some of the most respected professionals in the world. They are a vital aspect of every society and help millions of people every year.
However, to become a doctor, you are required to spend years in education, followed by exhausting workdays, a massive amount of student debt, and the potential for any mistake to lead to a patient suing a GP for negligence in the UK.
Yet, helping others and saving lives gives their life a great purpose. Many doctors find the work incredibly rewarding despite the many sacrifices that they must make.
In this article we will discuss what type of person makes a good doctor, how being a doctor can give your life purpose and the challenges doctors face.
Who would make a good doctor?
Becoming a doctor is not easy, and as such it’s important for doctors to have the right skills and traits for the job. Here are some of the skills and values you need.
Excellent communication
Communication plays a key part in being a good doctor. Practically it allows a doctor to obtain key information from their patients including symptoms, family background and other important details that can help with a correct diagnosis.
On top of this, patients are often destressed or in pain when speaking to a medical professional, good communication can go a long way to calming them down and providing reassurance.
Organisation
Being organised is another essential trait for a doctor. Organisation helps people to thrive in education, of which doctors must thrive to be successful. Additionally, everything in a hospital or doctor’s office must be meticulously labelled and recorded, to ensure patents are getting the right medicine and care.
Empathy
If a doctor does not care about their patients’ needs or concerns, they will struggle. It’s important that a doctor understand how a patient feels to ensure they are being cared for and that they are comfortable talking about any symptoms they are experiencing.
Collaborative
Being a doctor is not a solo venture. There are many people involved in medical care whom the doctor will need to collaborate with in order to provide the best possible care for patients.
Resilience
One of the most important traits that you can have as a doctor is resilience. It takes a long time and a lot of work to become a doctor and the jobs itself is incredibly challenging with long hours. Additionally, you have to be highly motivated are dedicated to achieving your goals.
Five ways being a doctor can give your life purpose
There are many benefits to being a medical professional, including job security and a good wage. Despite being such a challenging career working as a doctor also has the potential to fill your life with meaning. Here are five reasons why.
1) You are helping people
Being a doctor means helping people feel better and live long and happy lives. Although this is unfortunately not always possible, it’s still one of the main reasons why being a medical professional is the joy of helping others.
As a doctor you don’t just help a patient, but all of their family and loved ones. The amount of joy you can bring into existence as a doctor is immeasurable, and this if often the main reason why people dedicate their lives to the profession.
2) You have many different career options
Within a medical career there are countless areas to specialise in and a huge variety of paths to take. You have plenty of options to find your purpose and something you can thrive in.
3) You’ll learn key skills
As a doctor you have skills that can ensure that your family is healthy as well as giving you the ability to catch signs that your loved ones may need medical attention as soon as possible.
Additionally, within modern medicine there is always something new to learn. If you love learning, then becoming a doctor may just be the way to find your purpose in life.
4) You can teach others
Likewise, being a doctor gives you the tools you need to be able to share important knowledge with those around you. From teaching someone how to care for a broken ankle or advising a younger doctor, this can give you a great deal of purpose and pride.
5) You’ll have plenty of opportunities to travel
There are many countries in the world that desperately need more doctors. In this career you can not only have a major impact on those less fortunate than us but, if you want to, it’s possible to travel the world and meet some incredibly interesting people whilst improving lives along the way.
Challenges doctors face
This career can be exhausting and many doctors struggle with the challenges they face daily. The pressure of being responsible for someone’s wellbeing is definitely one of the larges challenges a doctor will face but this is not the only difficulty.
For example, a doctor is responsible for the health and welfare of their patients. This means that if any mistakes are made you may be sued for medical negligence. Misdiagnosing a patient, surgical mistakes, etc can all have a massive impact of the life of a patient and because of this, there are consequences to negligent medical care.
Another challenge doctors face is the overwhelming debt amassed after years of medical school. For those who are not able to pay of this debt quickly, it is something that they will be paying off for a very long time.
Furthermore, being a doctor means working all hours. Doctors are needed all day, night and on weekends so the hours can be long and exhausting with many being on call. Because of the hours its possible for a doctor to miss out on important family time, weddings, funerals and birthdays all too easily.
Finding your purpose as a doctor
When it comes to finding your purpose as a doctor its important to consider exactly what you want. Becoming a doctor whilst incredibly rewarding, is not for the faint of hearts so it’s vital that you know exactly what you are signing up for and that you have the skills and motivation to thrive through both the years of study and the job itself.
Take some time to think about the qualities that make a good doctorand whether they align with your own. Then contemplate the pros of cons of being a doctor and ask yourself whether this career will help your find your purpose.
Please be advised that this article is for general informational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for advice from a medical professional. We are not liable for risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information on this site.
