UP FRONT siblings and I were very familiar with medicine . When I was young , my dad was on-service 24 hours and off-service 24 hours and my mom worked nights , so , until I was about five years old , my sister and I spent every night in the hospital nursery . We ate dinner with the residents and nurses in the cafeteria , and then we ’ d go to the nursery until my mom ’ s shift ended . She would pick us up and take us home so a babysitter could watch us while she slept . I ’ ve always been very comfortable in hospitals .
Do you think the skills you honed as a reporter help you as a doctor ? One hundred percent . People think that reporting is so much different than medicine , but there actually is so much that ’ s the same .
As a reporter , my job was to dig for information to get to the truth of a story , and then to tell that story . I would meet strangers , ask questions , figure out what their worldview is , how their life experiences have shaped them . … Medicine is not that different . I meet patients and their families , ask questions , and listen to their answers to figure out what they are going through . Listening might be a more important component of medicine than reporting . Physicians still have to tell a story , just to a slightly different audience .
Education is also a big part of both reporting and medicine , as well . To be good at both , I think you also have to be curious .
The main difference is whom you are advocating for and whom you build relationships with . With medicine , it ’ s more of a personal advocacy than a public advocacy . My obligation as a reporter was to the truth , but I found that I was really drawn to a role where I was advocating for people . For me , relationships are more important , so medicine seemed to be a better fit .
They intersected recently when I had the chance to interview my dad for a book from StoryCorps called Callings : The Purpose and Passion of Work . As the son of a physician and the father of a physician , my dad has a unique perspective on the medical career . Spending an hour interviewing him for the book was really nice , but also strange because , although I ’ d interviewed people all the time as a reporter , it was never for something so personal .
Did you have any mentors who played a role in shaping your career ? I ’ ve always tried to emulate the people I admire . My mother , certainly , was an incredible patient advocate and very nurturing . My father , grandfather , and uncle were all physicians , too , and , from them , I learned what it meant to be called to medicine .
Dr . Chin certainly had a huge effect on my career . It seems bizarre now – I was arbitrarily assigned to be a secretary in his office and , while I was there typing up grants , he allowed me to explore my interests in his lab . From a professional standpoint , he was the first person to recognize that I could contribute scientifically .
My resident program director , Joel Katz , MD , also had an incredible influence on me , as did
Marshall Wolf , MD , and a lot of my colleagues in medical school and residency . Since I became an attending , there have been multiple people who helped me become the doctor I want to be : Mary Horowitz , MD , MS ; Patrick Stiff , MD ; Ruben Mesa , MD ; Jason Gotlib , MD , MS ; Linda Brubaker , MD , MS ; Wendy Stock , MD . … The list goes on . I ’ ve taken a little bit of something from each of them and tried to incorporate it into my work .
What advice would you give to young trainees who have questions about their own career paths ? You shouldn ’ t be afraid to explore things outside of the traditional pathway to medicine – especially when you ’ re young . If you ’ re called to follow the straight and narrow path to medicine , that ’ s great ; if you ’ re called to do a Fulbright scholarship somewhere or take a year off to learn a language or experiment with a different kind of research , that ’ s great , too .
Having richer , more diverse experiences will never hurt you in becoming a physician . It will help you better understand how to do your job and how you approach your work . For example , I interviewed one doctor who took a year off from training and spent it designing cooking lessons and shopping lists for women ’ s shelters . She said it taught her how poverty affected life and health .
I never could have been a good doctor if I took the traditional path to medical school right out of college . I was young , and I didn ’ t know anything about people or myself at that point . I covered a wide variety of things as a reporter : from local
“ Medicine is not that different [ from reporting ]. I meet patients and their families , ask questions , and listen to their answers . ... Listening might be a more important component of medicine than reporting .”
government to Congress , from homicide and crime to the FDA and public policy . When covering crime , especially in Chicago , I witnessed a lot of personal tragedy and the effects of crime , and it showed me a world I would otherwise have never seen . By the time I went to medical school , I had learned more about the world and had a different set of expectations . It was the right time for me to go .
So , my advice is that , if you ’ re drawn to experimenting , why not ?
In a typical day , what do you look forward to the most ? My favorite part of the day is taking a nice long walk in the morning with my dog , a 19-month old Rottweiler . I also love a summer evening , after work , when I walk over to my neighbors ’ porch to spend some time with them listening to a baseball game and unwinding . I ’ m a big baseball fan , so I ’ ve either watched or listened to nearly every Cubs game this year . I love being able to lie in my hammock in the backyard and catch up on my notes while listening to the game .
At work , I love seeing patients – going through their histories , listening to them , exploring what ’ s been happening in their lives , trying to teach them about their condition , putting together a plan that can hopefully alleviate some of their anxieties , and giving them a sense that they ’ re not alone .
What is something most people don ’ t know about you ? When I was in high school , I was a nationally ranked debater , which meant I competed in debates all over the country . That experience has been helpful because it has allowed me to be comfortable speaking in public . Participating in debate also teaches you a lot about skepticism , which is a very helpful trait in both journalism and medicine .
Is there a skill that you ’ d like to add to your repertoire , or anything that you ’ d do more of if you had the time ? It would be fun to do more traveling , even if it is for professional reasons . It would be great to do some kind of medical mission work in the future ; it would be fascinating to see a whole different side of medicine .
I ’ ve always loved painting , and I do some watercolor painting – I ’ m not very good , but I enjoy it . I also garden , and I wish Wisconsin were warmer , so there would be more time for that .
If you could have a superpower , what would it be and why ? I think I have one right now : I have a preternatural ability to catch things when they fall . When anything drops off a shelf , I ’ m right there to catch it . Of course , now that I ’ ve said that , it won ’ t happen anymore .
If I could choose another one , I ’ d like to have infinite patience , the ability to never get irritable . That , or time travel … Actually , I ’ ll take time travel . ●
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