When I grow up I want to be a doctor
My grandfather used to say that I was around 4 years of age when I started saying I wanted to be a doctor. People started teasing me with that question just to see what my answer would be and to check if I didn’t change my mind. As far back as my memory can go, I have never thought of being anything else. Well, for a while I did change my mind, I wanted to be a teacher, like my mother. After my school day finished, I used to go to the school where she taught kindergarten, and I helped her to finish her professorial duties. I always had a profound admiration for teachers and doctors. Teachers are very knowledgeable people and doctors help everyone. So, I wanted to be both.
Why did I have this fixation on being a doctor?
I don’t have any relative in my family who is a doctor, so there was no one role model that influenced me. It has never been for the lucrative career, as I had no idea that doctors are well paid until I was probably in high school and someone told me that if I became a doctor I would be rich. As I recall my childhood, I was always visiting doctor's offices and hospitals due to my constant tonsillitis, bronchitis, and diarrheas. I was no stranger to doctors and nurses in our local hospital emergency department. I already knew them by name. Where I grew up, all healthcare professionals wear white clothes and white shoes. If you are from another country, you would think you are in heaven surrounded by angels. Everything is sparkling clean and quiet, except for the babies who are getting their needles. I thought about becoming a kid’s doctor, also known as a pediatrician. So, I think the elegance and serenity of this workplace were what inspired me to be a doctor.
“You will have to study a lot to become a doctor”. I finally realized I would be extremely happy as a doctor when someone told me that I would need to study a lot. That for me is like living a dream. I am the kind of gig or type A person. I always studied more than what the teachers told the class to study. I was always overprepared for projects and tests. No wonder I was always the first in my class, in almost every subject, except history and literature. If I was the second in my class I would become so anxious that I needed to study harder next month to come back to the podium in the first place.
But how does one become a doctor?
What do doctors need to study? When I was a child, there was a TV show every Friday evening that explored and explained the mysteries of the human body. I still remember the episode about the brain and another episode about the heart. I immediately committed that I wanted to be a cardiologist. I was about 10 years old by then. My parents bought me an encyclopedia, and I read all about the human body, the systems, the diseases and their treatments. It was definitely what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
Then, it came to secondary school. Where I grew up, you get into medical school right after grade 11 if you pass a 2-phase very intense exam. I was admitted to one of the best medical schools in my country in 13th place when I was only 17 years of age. By 23 I was a medical doctor and by 26 I got my specialist title in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. I did not become a cardiologist mainly because I don’t like working with emergencies. I prefer an office-based practise with scheduled appointments. And pediatrics was not so attractive anymore as dealing with the parents of sick children was a bit frustrating. My life as a doctor had started, and I could wear white shoes and white clothes with a badge reading “Dr. Andrea Furlan”.
The hardest part of becoming a doctor.
What nobody had explained to me was that during medical school there would not be enough time to sleep. I am the kind of person who needs at least 9 hours per night, and that was not even imaginable during my clerkship and residency years. Sleep deprivation was the worst part of becoming a doctor. I never minded the amount of information that we must process in such a short time, I love learning new skills, pioneering with a new treatment, or trying a new project. But being tired all the time was not in my plans.
How about my other dream profession of becoming a teacher?
As a doctor, I am also a teacher. I mastered the techniques of teaching medical students, residents, fellows, and my own patients. I have delivered hundreds of classes, lectures, workshops and seminars as a physician. I travelled the world at medical conferences and as an invited international speaker. I taught classes from 2 students to thousands of attendees. I appeared on radio, print media and TV interviews. And now, I have my own video channel that I can teach anyone in the world about human biology, anatomy, physiology, diseases and treatments. I opened a YouTube channel that has already reached 7,500,000 views, with subtitles in 30 different languages.
I love my work and I would have done it all over again. Visit my YouTube channel to hear more about the work that I do. https://www.youtube.com/c/DrAndreaFurlan
