David Poon and the Road to Medical School: Disordered Thought

Firstly, last weekend I got to have a wonderful time singing karaoke.

I know, you're thinking, 'Obviously cause you're Asian.'

Hah hah, real original.

Living in an international residence, there were only THREE orientals. The rest a mix of sombreros and hijabs. I naturally had to give into my unhealthy pop star infatuation and turn up the Enrique.

Enrique Iglesias, for the heathen of you who don't know him, is the musical equivalent of raw, unbridled sexy passion.

Really, the Latino version of me.

I naturally give my heartfelt, heartachingly, hearty rendition of 'Escape' which brought tears to the eyes of no less than 7 people in room, and breaking the wineglasses of about double that, where a girl approaches me...

"David, that was amazing!"

"Hi, um, who are you."

After finding out that she studies medicine, I thought I finally found a friend in my profession at a residence overpopulated by students that say "I study arts because" as if to justify their existence to a world that simply never questioned it. She is an international medical student from Holland, so I was sure that we had much to learn from one another.

I thought I'd share the good news with her:

"I study medicine too!!"

"Hah hah, you're so funny!"

"Um... no, seriously."

"Hah... hah... what?"

"I'm in my third year of medical school. I know some of the people at the department you're doing research in. (Gastroenterology)"


"... they let people like you in?"

"Shitty eh?"

(get it? Shitty?? Cause she researches Gastro)

After that brief exchange, my favourite Korean Boy Band gets on air, for which I naturally am compelled to get onstage to perform.

Again, for the heathen of you, Korean Boy Bands are the only acceptably attractive Asians you will find in popular culture. Everyone else is too cross eyed or simply too much of a comedy icon to be considered anything else.

This performance only further exacerbated my image of an exceedingly beautiful voice of an angel, far too brilliant for mere medical school.

...

Fine. It was a ballad of my trademark high pitched, prepubescent cracking voice. But it was awesome.

...

So once I finished, I continued my discussion with the girl.

"So um, why can't you believe I'm in medical school?"

"Hah, you're funny."

"No, really. Hey you, ethnic kid I know across the room."

"Si senor?"

"Am I in medical school?

"Si si, medicino si."

"Proof enough?

Turns out her perception of us Canadian medical students was that we were geeks. But I, wasn't.

^-_-^

Readers, mark down the one moment in history where David Poon was NOT considered a geek.

Also, mark down the one moment in history where David Poon was LIKED for not being a geek.

Truly Holland is a remarkable place. Apparently me knowing every word to 'Larger than Life' squealing Enrique louder than a gay Mexican, and dancing like a Korean being tasered makes me not geeky.

In Canada, it makes me a virgin.

My sister and I were at a family reunion of sorts about 2 years ago. I was at a table meeting cousins for the first time in my life. My well dressed relative mentioned to the other people that I, Mr. Tie Fell Into the Curry, was also in his medical school class.

One cousin asks my sister,

"Is he really in medical school?"

"Yes."

"..."

"Something wrong?"

"That guy. The one who's putting tonic water on his tie."

"Yep."

"In medicine?"

"Serious."

"Your brother!!? THAT GUY IS IN MEDICINE!?!?!?!"

"That guy is, but don't call him my brother so loud, you'll embarrass me..."

NOTE: Starting here I go back into 'Crazy Poon Writing Out his Unfiltered Thoughts Mode." I'm ranting just to relieve some stress.

Secondly, you know, every once in awhile (in between complaining about blood and needles and talking about how much med is the worst profession) someone, for reasons either sympathetic or (more commonly) self righteous, ask me

"Poon, what's your problem with medicine?"

Medicine is an easy way out. From my experience as an Asian kid born of two doctors, it was essentially expected that I go to medical school. Everything else, was simply an 'interest' or hobby.

Think about many of us, premed and med student alike. It's as if we only know one thing, one skill, can talk about one topic. Place a few of us in a room and within minutes the topic falls to seemingly the one thing most important to us.

I've hung out with Engineering and Business students a far bit, and it always astounds me how long it takes for them to reach that school related bottom of the conversation barrel. But us?

"Med med med med" (or for the premed), "getting in getting in getting in."

Maybe I am alone in this, but this line of thinking, focusing on one subject, allowed me to eschew a real challenge of life - decision. The arduous process of getting in completely blinded me to the opportunities that choice allows in such a country as Canada.

I'm reading up on Craig Kielburger, a 26 year old Order of Canada member who started 'Free the Children' when he was 12. His record at such a young age astounds me, and allows me to put my life into context.

I am not so arrogant to believe that I could ever be as good as this man. But I do honestly think I should have expanded my horizons beyond simply medical school. And one could argue I had all the opportunity to do that. I know. Stupidly, I followed a seemingly one lane Road to Medical School.

I could have taken a detour, I know, I cold have driven off road. But the 'getting in' mentality allows for one thing - becoming a medical student as quickly as possible.

I rarely talk about my accomplishments, but a quick look at my resume would typically alert readers to my rather diverse interest, from my business team at the UofA, to my amateur debating career, to my FABULOUS time as a high school cheerleader. I have been involved with an international business organization for 3 years, founding my own team 2 years ago, competing nationally as the only medical student team president in the country (perhaps even North America).

My business colleagues, they get funding to compete in Toronto with me. I don't even get excused absences.

This year, a professor announced to my class that 'Medicine sucks the creativity out of you."

That was one lecture in med I truly could relate to.

The culture of the MD is such that you must want it so much that the sacrifices you made to 'get in' are no longer a problem. That means you no longer miss what you've lost, because you neglect it as part of who you are. But that portion of your soul that no longer has time for your hobbies? Easy - fill it with medicine.

Look, I know there are many successful MDs who do other things than just medicine. Vincent Lam wrote a Giller winning novel, and two doctors started Bioware, the company that makes the phenomenal Mass Effect video game. I went to see Dr. Lam talk, and he does less and less medicine as his book becomes a TV series and he continues his amazing writing career. Dr. Muzyka and Dr. Zeschuk no longer practice at all, busy now as Vice Presidents of Electronic Arts, one of the largest video game publishers in the industry.

The correlation I see is that these men found greatness once they left the boundaries imposed on them by a hierarchical, rigid, self regulated system placed upon those in the medical community today.

I had a wonderful opportunity to speak personally with Dr. "BEST VIDEO GAME EVER" and I asked him what was the point of getting his MD. He said that maybe some of his analytical thinking, thought processing skills had helped him. And certainly working the emergency room to pay for his company in the first, unprofitable years helped keep Bioware afloat.

At Dr. Lam's talk, I will always remember him telling us: "Two careers." That was good enough for a doctor.

Every time I bring up my business interests, I am either greeted with sheer disdain (followed by quick, unyielding, unwanted remarks about "two tier health care") or the aggravating, more typical "But you're in medicine!"

Recently, a preceptor told me I cold talk about personal stuff with him. I told him about my various interests, and why the faculty gave me a day off from clinic duties. Later on, he told me that on my evaluation, he is going to write he is concerned I may be doing too much.

Why must medicine be so self contained, so self regulated to the point that it must be seen as sacred, to be kept untainted by anything else?

I have made it less and less a secret that my goals now include getting a law degree. Most people think I'm joking when I tell them that. Maybe for the above reasons.

I've met a few lawyer/doctor combos. I get a pretty standard answer:

"As a lawyer, the MD is invaluable knowledge. But as a doctor, that knowledge in law isn't very useful"

But why isn't it? Why aren't expanded interests a hallmark of a great doctor, instead of a sign of an unfocused one.

I'm not saying my thoughts are perfect - I realize they are flaws. But I'm so often told I shouldn't even be in medicine.

Maybe I shouldn't.

But why not?

- David