Mentor, Part I

As medical school inches its way to a close, I'd like to thank some special doctors who taught me how to practice medicine. Medical education is a thankless, unprofitable, and often headache-provoking job, so I wanted to convey my appreciation to five of the best teachers that I've ever known

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Mentor # 1: "Dandy Nandy"

Dr. N. was the lead instructor for my second-year pathology course, and was, without a doubt the first person who convinced me that medicine was cool. During the first-year of medical school, it was not uncommon to see professors who had a rather laissez-faire view of clinical medicine, believing it secondary to the demands of research or studies of the basic sciences. In contrast, N. always appeared to have an irrepressible joy of teaching clinical medicine -- he was always willing to explain, was always punctual, and had a formidable amount of competency -- I still remember him reciting passages from Robbin's Textbook of Medicine from the top of his head. Hands down, a great doctor, a great teacher, and a great role model.

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Mentor # 2: "The Admiral"

Dr. K. was my assigned instructor for the M2 'Introduction to Clinical Medicine' course and had a set of eyebrows that one would *not* believe. Dr. K. was a fairly calm person and rarely lost his cool, but one could always judge his temperament by watching his eyebrows. To this day, I remember watching his eyebrows intently when presenting a case report -- they would flinch at any extraneous data ("the patient used to work as a plumber"), and when the eyebrows contorted into a V-shape ("I didn't perform a rectal exam"), you knew that you were going to get reamed out. Although Dr. K. was demanding, he had a wonderful sense of humor, and was always fond of trick questions and obscure 'zebra' diagnoses. I'll miss him and his eyebrows when I leave med school.

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Mentor # 3: "Ahmedinator"

Dr. A. was my preceptor for my pediatrics rotation, and was the first MD/PhD that I had a chance to work with. He was quite brilliant, and always was interested in 'why' something worked. Amidst many doctors that seemed dragged down to the rote 'nuts-and-bolts' of medicine, A. was always interested in new developments in pediatrics and better treatment modalities to help his patients. Dr. A. always took time out of his daily schedule to teach, and I still to this day remember his mnemonics on reading x-rays, electrocardiograms, and blood gasses. I hope to have half the spirit that A. has when I practice medicine.

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Mentor # 4: "Velvet"

During my surgery rotation, I had the honor and privilege of working with Dr. J, hands-down the best pure clinician that I've met. I've never seen so many patients and staff love a doctor so much. Dr. J. fit many aspects of the 'classic surgeon' archetype and was very tall, handsome, and meticulous. However, in contrast to the typical stereotype, Dr. J. never lost his temper and was always extraordinarily calm in the most hectic of situations. He was also remarkably hard-working and always had a positive attitude. As a case in point, I remember coming off a 24-hour shift with him and seeing him exhausted -- however, when someone asked how he was doing, he'd always say "'doing great" or joke "I'm king of the castle". Looking back, I'm grateful to have had a chance to work and learn from such an awesome doctor.

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Mentor #5: "Sandman"

Dr. D was my attending for my anesthesiology rotation and from the moment I started my time with him, I thought he hated my guts. Immediately after I told him that I was planning to go into anesthesiology, he would spend literally hours reaming me out on nuances of pharmacology and physiology. Dr. D. had spent over 30 years practicing in South Africa and England and was firmly of the 'old-school doctor' mentality -- he was always to be referred to as "Sir", shoes had to be shined to a mirror finish, and, geez, if you were seen outside the operating room without a starched white coat, you were absolutely dead. I used to dread bumping into Dr. D. in the corridors of the hospital wards, since if you got caught in a corridor, you would get questioned until you bled ignorance -- "How much calcium is in Ringer's solution? What is the average heartbeat for a two-month-old baby? What's the second farthest star from the Earth?". As the weeks progressed, things continued to get worse -- Dr. D made me take night call with him, which promised solid verbal thrashings from 12am to 2am. One day, I told one of my staff friends about this treatment, and he laughed and said "You know, Dr. D really likes you -- he never lets any students do his hard cases, and he never lets anyone do the procedures that you're getting to do". As my time under Dr. D. drew to a close, I realized that I had been offered a great opportunity. I'll definitely miss Dr. D. when I leave Urbana -- I'm sure that I wouldn't have learned solid anesthesiology without his help.

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Anyway, here ends my list of prior medical school mentors. The best thing about medical education is that one is always learning -- I'm sure that I'll have teachers that I respect and learn from in internship, residency, fellowship, and beyond. And perhaps, one day, I'll leave my mark on a beginning student: