Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Where this physician finds joy in medicine

Leanne Rowe, MD
Physician
October 4, 2018
805 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share

My country rotation as a medical student was overshadowed by a heated argument between the general practitioner and his wife. She was sacrificing her life in this “hole of a place” and angrily stormed out to visit her children in boarding school in the city. Decades later, I now understand the frustration and challenges of rural general practice for a doctor, who is also a mother:

Being ignored in the street by the sister of someone I reported for child abuse. Remaining professional when my child was victimized at school by one of my young patients. Being called out to a cardiac arrest in the middle of lunch with best friends, and leaving them to babysit my children. A knock at the door at 2 a.m. by a tearful, teenage boy, who requested the morning after pill for his girlfriend, as the condom broke twenty minutes before, and “her father would kill him.” Listening to my baby screaming for a breastfeeding while I was resuscitating a choking child, who was rushed to my home by his frantic parents. Having my supermarket shopping prolonged by a patient who asked my advice about his hemorrhoids. Taking my children on a long-awaited outing and stopping at a motor car accident, where instead they were entertained by fire engines, police, ambulance and a helicopter unsupervised in the back of my car. Stopping at the next accident and praying we wouldn’t know the family this time. Un-bandaging my neighbor’s hand at my kitchen table at 11 p.m. and finding that he amputated his finger when he fell off the haystack that morning (“Well who else was going to milk the cows?”). Trying desperately and unsuccessfully to resuscitate a teenage boy after an accident in the main street in front of his mother. And having to counsel a community’s grief when I felt I couldn’t contain my own.

Then I remind myself of so many other stories of courage and resilience in the face of chronic illness, child abuse, family breakdown and death. These are mostly the rich images of people from very diverse walks of life, who have taught me what my life career requires of me beyond my work.

Receiving a letter of thanks from the abused child, now a thriving adult. Catching a glimpse of my neighbor on another lonely drive home from work — the 70-year-old farmer riddled with arthritis throwing hay off the back of his driverless truck which was chugging across the paddock with a brick on the accelerator (the day after being discharged from the hospital for repair of his amputated finger). Sharing a tearful moment with the courageous mother who lost her son years ago in the main street accident — and fully understanding what a privilege it is to be a doctor.

And because parenting is more difficult and wonderful than any of this, it is also experiencing the joy of watching my 18-year-old son (who had previously noted that I am an overly anxious, aging woman with a weird sense of humor and a big ass), saying to his career advisor: “I want to be just like my mum.”

Leanne Rowe is a physician in Australia and is the co-author of Every Doctor. 

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

The myth of compassion in health care

October 4, 2018 Kevin 12
…
Next

Judges versus coaches in medical education

October 4, 2018 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: Primary Care

Post navigation

< Previous Post
The myth of compassion in health care
Next Post >
Judges versus coaches in medical education

More by Leanne Rowe, MD

  • How to manage narcissistic doctors

    Leanne Rowe, MD
  • How to spot a narcissistic doctor

    Leanne Rowe, MD
  • Medical workplace bullying: We just want it to stop

    Leanne Rowe, MD

Related Posts

  • A physician’s addiction to social media

    Amanda Xi, MD
  • Why academic medicine needs to value physician contributions to online platforms

    Ariela L. Marshall, MD
  • How social media can advance humanism in medicine

    Pooja Lakshmin, MD
  • Medicine rewards self-sacrifice often at the cost of physician happiness

    Daniella Klebaner
  • The difference between learning medicine and doing medicine

    Steven Zhang, MD
  • KevinMD at the Richmond Academy of Medicine

    Kevin Pho, MD

More in Physician

  • The essence of health narratives, including poetry

    Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA
  • Discover the power of patience

    Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH
  • Doctors rediscover joy in practicing medicine, on their own terms

    Kim Downey, PT
  • Physician return-to-work policies

    Deepak Gupta, MD
  • How my patients’ Zoom backgrounds made me a better doctor

    Joseph Barrera, MD
  • Understanding reproductive rights: complex considerations

    Anonymous
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The erosion of patient care

      Laura de la Torre, MD | Physician
    • Challenging the diagnosis: dehydration or bias?

      Sydney Lou Bonnick, MD | Physician
    • COVID-19 unleashed an ongoing crisis of delirium in hospitals

      Christina Reppas-Rindlisbacher, MD, Nathan Stall, MD, and Paula Rochon, MD | Conditions
    • Air quality alert: Reducing our carbon footprint in health care

      Shreya Aggarwal, MD | Conditions
    • A teenager’s perspective: the pressing need for mental health days in schools

      Ruhi Saldanha | Conditions
    • Understanding reproductive rights: complex considerations

      Anonymous | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Medical gaslighting: a growing challenge in today’s medical landscape

      Tami Burdick | Conditions
    • I want to be a doctor who can provide care for women: What states must I rule out for my medical education?

      Nandini Erodula | Education
    • Balancing opioid medication in chronic pain

      L. Joseph Parker, MD | Conditions
    • The erosion of patient care

      Laura de la Torre, MD | Physician
    • Unveiling excessive medical billing and greed

      Amol Saxena, DPM, MPH | Policy
    • I’m a doctor, and I almost died during childbirth

      Bayo Curry-Winchell, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Addressing dual diagnosis needs in addiction treatment

      Susan Hertz Berrick, EdD | Conditions
    • The essence of health narratives, including poetry

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Physician
    • Discover the power of patience

      Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH | Physician
    • Doctors rediscover joy in practicing medicine, on their own terms

      Kim Downey, PT | Physician
    • End-of-life ethics and antibiotic use [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Physician return-to-work policies

      Deepak Gupta, MD | Physician

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

Leave a Comment

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

CME Spotlights

From MedPage Today

Latest News

  • Low Relapse Rates With Twice-Yearly Schizophrenia Treatment
  • Fast-Acting Spray for PSVT; Undiscounted Entresto's Value; CTCA-Aided Angiography
  • FDA Greenlights Test for Cancer-Predisposing Genetic Mutations
  • Actemra Biosimilar Approved
  • Menopause Can Negatively Affect Women's Careers

Meeting Coverage

  • Low Relapse Rates With Twice-Yearly Schizophrenia Treatment
  • Menopause Can Negatively Affect Women's Careers
  • Sexual Activity Lowers Risk of Side Effects After Cervical Cancer Treatment
  • Hot Flashes: Precursor to Alzheimer's Disease?
  • SABR Offers New Hope for Older Patients With Inoperable Kidney Cancer
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The erosion of patient care

      Laura de la Torre, MD | Physician
    • Challenging the diagnosis: dehydration or bias?

      Sydney Lou Bonnick, MD | Physician
    • COVID-19 unleashed an ongoing crisis of delirium in hospitals

      Christina Reppas-Rindlisbacher, MD, Nathan Stall, MD, and Paula Rochon, MD | Conditions
    • Air quality alert: Reducing our carbon footprint in health care

      Shreya Aggarwal, MD | Conditions
    • A teenager’s perspective: the pressing need for mental health days in schools

      Ruhi Saldanha | Conditions
    • Understanding reproductive rights: complex considerations

      Anonymous | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Medical gaslighting: a growing challenge in today’s medical landscape

      Tami Burdick | Conditions
    • I want to be a doctor who can provide care for women: What states must I rule out for my medical education?

      Nandini Erodula | Education
    • Balancing opioid medication in chronic pain

      L. Joseph Parker, MD | Conditions
    • The erosion of patient care

      Laura de la Torre, MD | Physician
    • Unveiling excessive medical billing and greed

      Amol Saxena, DPM, MPH | Policy
    • I’m a doctor, and I almost died during childbirth

      Bayo Curry-Winchell, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Addressing dual diagnosis needs in addiction treatment

      Susan Hertz Berrick, EdD | Conditions
    • The essence of health narratives, including poetry

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Physician
    • Discover the power of patience

      Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH | Physician
    • Doctors rediscover joy in practicing medicine, on their own terms

      Kim Downey, PT | Physician
    • End-of-life ethics and antibiotic use [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Physician return-to-work policies

      Deepak Gupta, MD | Physician

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Leave a Comment

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...