A couple of days back, I met a few of my school friends after a really long time. One of them is pursuing her masters to become a dentist. The conversation naturally veered around to how tough it is to become a doctor and even post that, life really does not get any easier. I asked her if she had performed any surgeries. She said yeahh - a couple. On asking her about the experience, the reply which she gave was something which I least expected. "It was Fun!"
Surgeries and fun?! I had to admit that the answer took me completely by surprise. To laymen like you and me and to patients, surgeries are anything but fun! But on second thoughts, I wondered. Fun! Why not?! The job of a doctor is to have cure patients and perform surgeries. Just like in any other vocation, it is important to have fun and enjoy what you are doing. Why can't doctors have fun too? Imagine if they seem and act disinterested and bored while operating! It really is wonderful how a different perspective can make you see things with more clarity.
That however was not the end of it and a train of thought had already started running. Most of us from the batch of 2010 have completed or would be completing a year in our respective jobs. I would not say that its been all fun and games. There have been some days where you felt 'wow! This is so interesting' and some days where u felt 'wow! Can't believe I am doing such work!' But this is a truism which is part and parcel of any kind of work, even if you are in a field where you always wanted to be. I would say that I have been fortunate enough to part of a good team where there is so much to learn almost every day. And that I believe is the key. The learning should not stop.
Also, I have been lucky enough to get a boss who loves to give "gyaan". His two nuggets of advice have stayed with me. One was that you should have very basic expectations from your job. Do not expect that you will be doing interesting work every day and you will be satisfied. Yes, It is important that your work challenges your mental faculties and gives you ample opportunity to learn. But for happiness and satisfaction, it is important to look outside work and recharge your batteries. On weekends. With family. With friends. Read a good book. Watch a good movie. Go party. Pursue a hobby.
His second point was on something which a lot of us can identify with. Career planning. He said that he had to shift departments four times in his career of more than 10 years. And these shifts were not really what he wanted or what he asked for. He was just told that he would have to move. No options given. But he remained patient and is now pretty successful. Unplanned career progression :)
Gyaan dena aasan hota hai always. But if the gyaan makes sense, a sincere attempt must be made to imbibe some. Its important to set your expectations right. Expectation anchoring. And its important to not fret about work too much. And to try to keep things in perspective. Because, if you think about it from a doc's point of view, surgeries can be fun too :)
