How’s Your Fire? Stoking the Passion that Drew You to Medicine.
Galapagos Iguanas
Fifteen years ago, I was invited to write an editorial for The Annals of Surgical Oncology about a commentary from prominent surgical oncologist Eva Singletary, MD titled "A Fire in Our Hearts: Passion and the Art of Surgery." This proved to be one of the last of over 275 articles and 75 book chapters she published. While I never met Dr. Singletary in person, I knew of her. By every measure, she had a remarkably successful career in surgery as a clinician, researcher, educator, and leader. Not long after the publication of her commentary and my editorial in 2010, I learned that she had rather unexpectedly withdrawn from surgical duties. Five years later, she died at age 62.
When I first read her commentary, it seemed a bit vague to me. I heard a mature, capable surgeon searching to express the heart of practice, the essence of what makes it worthwhile. She could see that something was slipping away, but she couldn't quite name what it was. The language and analytical tools of science that had served her so effectively in clinical research were insufficient for this question. I think of something poet David Whyte said in an interview in 2016 about his first career as a zoologist who had scored an amazing post in Galapagos: I went back into poetry because I felt like scientific language wasn’t precise enough to describe the experiences that I had in Galapagos. Science, rightly, is always trying to remove the “I.” But I was really interested in the way that the “I” deepened, the more you paid attention.
We have a real problem in medicine, too, when we remove the "I," particularly because it turns out that the "I" is critical for making a connection with other people (especially a balanced, vibrant, joyful "I"). I don't believe I've ever met a doctor who didn't start down this road without having a deeply held wish to help others, to be present to them in a time of need, and be equipped to make a difference. This was the dream, and it probably still is the dream even if it's taken a bit of a beating.
What I do is help doctors remember what brought us here. I help find and revive the dream. It's not coaching to help doctors fit in. It's not finding a side gig to make up for what's missing. It's not about mastering the corporate playbook. It's deeper and more personal than that, and it's different for each doctor. And, yes, among other things, we take a good, long look at the Doctor OS and the Doctor Channel.
If you'd like to rekindle your lost fire or know another doctor who would, I would like to help. You can schedule a conversation with me here. You can learn more about me and some of the ways I work here. You can read my editorial (Taking Stock of Surgeons' Integrity and Vitality: Why the Three A's No longer Tell the Whole Story) here.
Singletary SE. A fire in our hearts: passion and the art of surgery. Ann Surg Oncol. 2010 Feb;17(2):364-70. doi: 10.1245/s10434-009-0732-x. Epub 2009 Dec 3. PMID: 19957044.
