Life beyond Medicine

Dr Hemant Morparia, MD

Bombay, India

morparia@gmail.com

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by oem

THE THREE MODERN SINS

• Arrogance• Incompetence• Greed

• (and like the bankrupt AIG, they need to go under,without any bail out)

1.ARROGANCE

2.INCOMPETENCE

3.GREED

Why a life beyond medicine?

• Full use of your brain’s potential-your right brain should not be left behind and your left brain will get right ahead.

• Constant life-long ,non-linear growth-growing like a tree –branching in all directions (and not like a tap root, in only one direction)

Why a life beyond medicine?

• No burn-out.More so in times of increased (professional) life expectancy.

• Eventually , most of your work will become routine: be it treating cough/cold/fever or performing coronary bypass surgery

• Greater Fulfillment in Life. GFL is in inverse proportion to DMP*

*Dubious Medical Practice

Why a life beyond medicine?

• A ‘portfolio of careers’ leads to more independence

• It makes you an ‘interesting case’

• As basic and not-so-basic needs are satisfied, the higher ‘self-actualization’ need surfaces.

• It’s the way of the future

Why a life beyond medicine?

• Synergy with all activities- if you enjoy painting, you will become a better surgeon, which in turn may help you in playing a musical instrument which will make you play better tennis player which may help you be a superior communicator which will improve your cooking etc…etc…

• i.e more synapses/better synapses/longer synapses/unusual synapses in the brain will be formed,in turn producing unusual serendipitous results.

HOW TO GO ABOUT IT?

• (take out your notebooks and pens/laptops, now)

A tautological tip

• Q : How did you start drawing cartoons?

• A: I started drawing cartoons by drawing cartoons.

How to go about it?

• Don’t confuse your career with your life- “your life is not your job”

• Do new things at every available opportunity

• I hear- I forget ,I see - I remember, I do and I understand.

How to go about it?

• Every one has some talent. Don’t ignore your talent / instinct / ‘keeda’

• Nurture it! • Don’t postpone nurturing your talent-after

ssc/hsc/mbbs/md/nursing home/ kids/ after kid’s terminals….after kid’s ssc (repeat as above…till terminal cardio-respiratory failure or dementia)

• Surround yourself with positive people

How to go about it

• Better to sing than to attend a concert to listen to a professional singer.

• ”Life is not a spectator sport”

• Success in one field leads to a greater fear of failure in another. Avoid this trap. Take risks!

Important creativity tip:

• It’s never what you do, it’s always ‘how’ you do it.

• You cant always do what you love, but you can always learn to love what you do.

Why medicine is perfect :

• It’s a flexible profession:• time• place• type of practice

• No worries about job loss even in recessionary times.

• Steady income and some ‘respect’• Meet many people from different fields and

backgrounds

The reward system

• Primary• Secondary• Tertiary• Quaternary

• Primary (auto teleological) acts , are their own reward*.

• Then why not eliminate the middle men from the other loops?

• Why settle for ‘RICH’ when you can have ‘ENRICHED’?

• *A pun, on the other hand, is it’s own re-word.