Thursday, October 22, 2009

My first steps into Oncology


This is the first of a new series of posts that i would like to share- experiences while on the job- in my case, a fledging cancer speacialist. Its a job, not many will be willing to take up- for many reasons- poor patient response, dissatisfaction with treatment, frustration of not being able to do more when you want to, and so on and so forth. But somehow, none of these were reason enough for me to heed to the constant peer pressure to reconsider my decision. To a lay man, an oncologist is not so appealing as say, a cardiologist or a neurologist- now they were people who are literally considered gods!.. so whose an oncologist, i was often asked? "Cancer!.. why do you want to study Cancer?".. people asked me baffled at my choice of a career. But, somehow, somewhere a chord had struck, and i knew that i was destined to make this my calling.
My first few days at the department were nothing short of frustrating. I was so confused"why this? why not that?How do you guys decide the protocols? How will i ever remember the drugs?" Everything was new, unexplored territory. It helped to have a supportive work environment that gave me the time to fall in place.
Well, two months of working in the wards has been satiating. Im beginning to understand how the system works and how to make the decisions we take. Im not claiming to have mastered it, but definitely the whole picture seems less hazy now and more transparent!
Anyway, im at the start of a journey that seems to have more experiences to learn from than learn about..

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"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than the ones you did.So, throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Let the trade winds in. Explore. Dream. Enjoy."