A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of speaking via Zoom to a group of high school students. Somebody who watches my YouTube videos reached out to me and asked if I would be able to speak to them about pursuing careers in medicine. I happily obliged, and must say I was incredibly impressed with these youngsters and the mature and sensible questions they were asking. Teenagers often get a bad rep—and frequently that’s justified! But we also forget that being that age can be an exceptionally difficult and turbulent time. I don’t think many people reading (including myself) would want to go back to those years.
I also touched upon preventive medicine and wellness, and the importance of a healthy lifestyle as the fundamental foundation upon which everything else in ones’ life is built. Again, the students seemed genuinely interested. With soaring rates of childhood and adolescent obesity, with all the associated disastrous health consequences, this is a very pertinent topic in 2021. Under the umbrella of general physical health—also come the topics of mental health and personal development—all crucial to anyone’s overall sense of well-being. The current generation faces unique challenges previous ones didn’t, including the explosion of social media, which has been shown to have extremely detrimental effects on mental health, and is directly responsible for exploding levels of anxiety and depression in that age group.
But getting back to the career advice I was asked about. I tell anyone considering a career in medicine, whatever profession they want to do, that they couldn’t be entering a greater field! It’s sometimes difficult, especially with the overwhelming levels of negativity you see online, to see all the benefits of a medical career. No job or line of work is perfect. But for me, the positives far outweigh any negatives, and there couldn’t be a more rewarding career to pursue. There’s so many branches you can go into, to suit your own personality and interests, and a variety of ways you can choose to practice.
I honestly wouldn’t be doing anything else…
Suneel Dhand is a physician, writer, and YouTuber. He is Founder at MedStoic Lifestyle Medicine and DocsDox . Follow him on YouTube and Facebook.