Isn’t It Depressing?

One thing I have learned hard, if indeed I have learned it now: it is a reduction of our Humanity to hide from pain, our own or others’… be open, be available, be exposed, be skinless. Skinless? Dance around in your bones.”
- Wallace Stegner

Physicians who care for cancer patients know when “The Questions” are coming. A casual conversation eventually turns to career choices. The pleasant exchange is replaced with talk of life-changing illnesses and impossibly difficult decisions. The other person’s brow furrows, the head shakes, the face darkens.

“How can you deal with ‘that,’ day after day?” they ask.

“Isn’t it depressing?”

“Why did you ever pick that for a career?”

One or two events can shape our lives. As a medical student, I remember being enthralled by a presentation about speech restoration for people who had lost their voice boxes. I wanted to do that! Later, during residency, I experienced an unexpectedly strong sense of gratitude when a family welcomed me into their intimate circle as a relative lay dying of cancer. I haven’t looked back.

Where will the next generation of cancer physicians and clinical researchers gain their inspiration? There are legitimate pressures that could make oncology less attractive to students: the certainty of difficult patient interactions, unpredictable work schedules, unsettled reimbursement issues, the complexity and length of training, and the explosion of research knowledge to be mastered. Still, we sit on the cusp of a potentially exciting new era in cancer care and our best and brightest trainees will feel the tug.

Students and residents are constantly exposed to mentors and experiences that might inspire them. Some career choices will be more emotionally challenging than others and there are days when every physician who cares for cancer patients struggles within to find responses to "The Questions."

Incredibly, each day brings fresh opportunities to uncover new and surprising answers.

Bruce H. Campbell, MD, FACS
Professor of Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences
Chief, Division of Head and Neck Oncology
Interim Director, Froedtert & Medical College Cancer Center

"Reflections" is a collection of essays by the health professionals of the Medical College of Wisconsin.