First up in our “Dear Me, MD” blog series, a poem by Vivienne Beard, a third year medical student.
I want you to know this, entering clerk
You may be a medical student, but it isn’t menial work
Each pulse that you take, every blood pressure you check
Is molding and forming you beyond what you inspect
You’ll look back in ten years at the patients you treated
You’ll smile and you’ll cry at the times you competed
With classmates who need love, as much as your patients
So I beg you, be kind, to those who aren’t gracious
The years will fly by and at last, you’re a doctor!
A physician, you may be, but you’re also a daughter
You may be a wife and you may have children,
So remember the weight of these other positions
“Doctor” is a title, but human is at your core
Never forget this other role, that you were made for
You were made to love, to give, and to offer
In ways that make sense, as human and doctor
So hold the hands of patients who are weary in spirit
And give compassion and competence as your greatest merit
You’ll make it, I promise, in the role of physician
Although I can tell you, it’s more than ambition
So take solace, breathe, let go of your worries
They do you no good, but drive anxious flurries
Instead, work each day with kindness and joy
Both human and physician, always deploy