Each one of us was drawn to the field of medicine for our own reason. Remembering why we do the work we do can help us focus on what is meaningful. It can help us recenter our efforts toward what recharges us.
We began our well-being panel at the biannual meeting by asking each panelist this question, What’s your why? We hope their responses help inspire you to ask yourself the same question.
Elizabeth Harry:
My dad is a pediatric oncologist, and he had started a camp for children with cancer. Growing up, every summer since I was born, I went to cancer camp. What I loved about that experience was that the whole point was to bring joy to every child that was there and to make the activities accessible. Not only restoring health or helping people maintain health, but also preserving joy during whatever journey people are on was amazing to me. I had no question in my mind from a very early age that I wanted to be part of bringing joy to people’s lives as we try to restore health.
Ishwaria Subbiah:
I grew up around doctors. I am the 3rd generation of doctors and the 2nd generation of oncologists. My mom was an oncologist in rural Pennsylvania, where she was the only oncologist for about 90 miles. There were so many elements of that environment growing up that impacted my decision to go into medicine and specifically into oncology. You are taking care of people during one of the most difficult times in their life. The honor and privilege to take care of people and families during that time was the easiest sell for me.
Rachel Thienprayoon:
Scientific curiosity is what brought me to medicine, but what keeps me there is that as a pediatrician, kids bring out the best in me, professionally. They are funny, they’re resilient, they’re honest, and making them better is an easy reason to come back.