Reflection On The Documentary The Making Of A Doctor

Following the journeys of seven aspiring doctors certainly opened my eyes and made me aware of the reality of what it takes to become a doctor. Throughout the duration of, “The Making of a Doctor”, a Nova documentary, seven Harvard Medical students are followed up until residency.

Jay, Cheryl, David, Elliot, Jane, Luanda, and Tom’s journey through Medical School was highlighted and documented for the duration of the program. Despite the strenuous efforts it takes to become successful in the healthcare industry, the doctors have attained considerable amounts of medical knowledge and have chosen their desired specialty. Each doctor justifies their reasoning and even hesitations about becoming a doctor in the program as well. The aspect of maintaining a healthy balance in each of their individual lives as well is touched on and explained by the doctors themselves in the documentary. In order to become successful in both medical school and a residency program, an individual must possess these vital qualities such as altruism, confidence, and passion. In my opinion, each of these traits is a necessity to be successful. The quality of altruism; the belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the wellbeing of others, is crucial in medical school and a residency program.

I believe that every person working in the healthcare industry should acquire this trait if they don't already have it. This quality allows healthcare providers to serve with compassion and gain a good patient to doctor relationship which is needed for success. While scrubbing in for a surgery, Jane mentions that “Actually helping when you feel needed is probably one of the top ten experiences to have. ” Jane vocalizes that she gets an amazing feeling after helping someone and that it really brings joy to her in doing so, illustrating her quality of altruism.

Altruism also aids in balancing the lives of providers which directly affects the quality of patient care. Secondly, confidence is essential in medical school and residency. In residency specifically, confidence with patients is imperative to success. No patient feels comfortable when a doctor emits a sense of uncertainty, but when a doctor is confident it improves the patient's outlook and builds trust. During Cheryl's assessment in physical examination skills, she confidently asked questions and explained thoroughly to the “patient” what exactly was occurring. Because of her confidence, Cheryl was successful with her assessment. With a healthy amount of confidence, a relationship of trust and a leadership role is formed which also is fundamental to success in both medical school and residency.

Additionally, passion is indispensable to any individual looking to be prosperous in the healthcare industry. If one truly loves their work, they develop self-discipline and will tend to put what they do above other aspects of their lives. Jay Bonnar illustrates this quality perfectly when he says, “I knew I couldn't be a businessman. I could never do that because I wouldn't care about any sort of product, I care about people. ” He had a passion for what he aspires to do and that's essential to success in any healthcare profession. Passion for what you do is critical and possessing it will allow for superior dedication to their job, making residency and medical school more bearable, thus resulting in success. Embodying each of these qualities while in medical school and residency will improve your chances of success. In my opinion, the most challenging part of medical school and residency would be the need for tedious work during strenuous hours. Throughout residency, it’s expected that students participate in forty to eighty hour weeks and single shifts lasting over twenty-four hours and perfection is mandatory. Having someone's life in your hands calls for absolute perfection, but working for over twenty-four hours in one shift makes the needed precision difficult to maintain. Even in medical school its important for students to study days on end outside of class for sometimes exceeding six hours and still sustain elite precision during class. The demanding hours plus the needed precision, in my opinion, would by far be the most difficult part of medical school and residency. With becoming a doctor comes a great deal of dedication and commitment. After completing four years in college, A aspiring doctor must attend Medical school. Medical school is a strenuous additional four years of encyclopedic amounts of information preparing you for your desired profession. An average day of classes in medical school starts at eight AM and can last past four pm, breaking only for an hour for lunch. Throughout these long hours, students will learn various ambitious courses and subjects, and in order to fully understand and master a subject, it's essential to review the materials after class as well.

While in Medical school, Tom Tartar decided to time himself while studying to see how long he really did review material and what he concluded was that on average, he studied six hours a day outside of class. With classes taking up the majority of his day, time for reviewing was limited, but he still made time to fit it in. Medical school itself is an extreme commitment that jeopardizes several other aspects of one's life such as a social life. On top of years of Medical school, a Residency program is also mandatory in becoming a doctor. Residency can last anywhere from three to seven years until students are eligible for receiving their medical licenses. During residency, student doctors often work eighty to one-hundred hour weeks. Days for residents can begin awfully early or late, depending on the shift being worked. Sometimes, working through the night is necessary for ideal patient care. Single shifts can last up to fourteen hours. This draining work schedule is consistent in residency. Like medical school, residency also requires studying and reviewing of cases. In order to be a better doctor, long hours of studying is a must. Throughout the years of residency, students study and participate in various specialties. At the end of residency, students decide what they want their own specialty to be, and can go off and begin your fellowship.

After assessing each of the doctor's journeys and seeing where they are now and how successful each of them has become, I believe that Elliott made the best decision and will make the best doctor. From the beginning of the documentary, Elliott had an outgoing and charming personality. He was eager to learn and participate throughout his years in both medical school and residency. Elliott has illustrated a great example of the qualities I had mentioned previously. He was confident, passionate, and altruistic. During his time at medical school, Elliott was so passionate about his work, that when he received a poor grade in obstetrics and gynecology he was distraught. He “really enjoyed it and for several months [he] was actually considering OBGYN as a career choice. ” This demonstrates a great passion for his craft and made him stand out from the other six doctors. He also adds that he “didn't do as well as he thought [he] would. ” This demonstrates that he had the confidence needed to become a successful doctor. Elliott made good choices throughout medical school, he studied hard, yet lived a balanced life. Even though he was more often than not in a hospital or a classroom, Elliott still managed to find time for himself to recuperate and have fun. A balanced life is also a necessity for becoming successful not only as a doctor but anything in life.

As time progressed Elliott fell in love with a new specialty, anesthesiology. Elliott felt as though this was a perfect fit for him, the hours salary everything. In Elliotts post-documentary interview he mentions that he “enjoys the challenges of trying to improve in whatever he does on a daily basis” and I believe that this mindset played a major role in why today he is as content and successful as he is.

Following watching the documentary and deeply reflecting on the various aspects of it, I have acquired my own opinion on whether or not I wish to attend medical school. Previous to watching the documentary and doing research, I thought that it was a given that I wanted to attend medical school and go through residency, but I was oblivious to the time commitment and dedication. Everyone had always said how difficult Medical school is, but it was until viewing the documentary that I understood what was meant. I felt slightly discouraged after this documentary only because I want to have a family. I want to have a husband and children, but this seems challenging having to go through seven additional years of strenuous school work. Although it is challenging, its possible, and I am up for the challenge. The documentary did influence me, but it opened my eyes and has made me more prepared for medical school. After watching the documentary I was made aware of the process of both medical school and residency. I enjoyed seeing the various specialties and how each personality of each of the doctors fit into them. I am intrigued by all the specialties mentioned in the documentary. As of now, and after this added education on medical school and residency, I believe I do want to attend and take on the challenge.