Doc Smo’s Annual Holiday Message 2020 (Pedcast)

Ten years of weekly podcasting, 569 published posts, and I am still going strong connecting to you, my listeners. And, it's time for one of my favorite posts of the year, my annual holiday message. Today's message is kind of personal and equally important. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Image complements of Pixabay Musical Intro Why Healthcare for Doc Smo? As a child, I had no idea that I could or would turn out to be a doctor. I liked math and science in school but mainly I wanted to be outside playing sports. When I got to college, I was forced to confront the question, "What am I going to do with this fancy education I am getting and what am I going to do with the rest of my life?" My strengths were in math,  science, and... hard work. The latter being the most important. I was an overachiever who knew my most powerful weapon was a good work ethic and persistence. Hard work and persistence were my secret weapons that had taught me that if I wanted something enough, I could get it with sheer determination. A career in medicine came up on my radar as a career path, initially, because a full 50% of my undergraduate class were pre-med.Maybe I could do that?  We all tend to want others around us want, right? So, I set out to find out if it was for me. As an undergraduate, I volunteered at a VA pharmacy, I worked summers in a neurosurgeon's research lab doing dog and cat experiments, I got a part time job in a neurology lab doing some of the earliest research on brain neuro-transmitters, and I helped staff a free community medical clinic for disadvantaged residents in Durham, NC. The more I explored the world of healthcare, the more intrigued I became. Yes, medicine was going to be my path I thought. I remember coming home during my 4th year of medical school and having a conversation with my father about my future. It's in your fourth year that you have to choose a residency specialty. Its fish or cut bait time for a major life decision. I had decided on pediatrics