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Written by, Josh Suderman, MD
The cliché goes that when someone is asked why they want to be a doctor they say because they “want to help people”. Although this is a simple answer, it captures a common sentiment among doctors and an essential motivating factor to embarking on a career in healthcare.
Growing up in a small town in Kansas, my family physician, Dr Hall, was a respected person in the community. I appreciated his knowledge whenever I saw him as a patient. In high school I enjoyed my human anatomy class and I was privileged enough to shadow Dr Hall while I was in college. This shadowing experience was a fun, informative experience that helped me to see what it was like to be a doctor. During my college years I began to combine these interests and experiences into a single focus on a career in medicine. As I progressed through college, medical school and residency I was privileged to have many other positive mentors that showed me how to compassionately help others as a physician. I will always be grateful, though, for the first example my family physician provided and how this sparked an interest in medicine that carries on to this day.
Daily I strive to be a compassionate physician with a strong scientific knowledge base that allows me to care for patients in an effective, understanding way similar to the example set by Dr Hall and other physician mentors in my life. Each of my colleagues and fellow staff members at the Javery Pain Institute have the same goal of providing this compassionate care to patients. It’s exciting to work in a clinic where the values that I respected when I first began to consider a career in medicine are put into place each day. I look forward to bringing these values to each patient encounter in the future at Javery Pain Institute.
