Being opportunistic, going with the flow

I feel like I’m in such a rut lately. The second year of med school is finally winding down but I feel like I’ve been so bored, boxed in, confined for the last two years that I’ve become downright boring . . . and really bored

So much so that the only things that seem to offer me some kind of escape tend to be thinking about the future, about my career, about taking care of patients, etc etc etc

Its at times like these that its good to get some perspective. Dr. Payson, the “godfather” of the MD/MBA program here at Dartmouth had some great advice. He said that in the end, allow yourself to be opportunistic and take what comes to you. In other words, though we may all think that we can plan and plan our careers to maximize our productivity, time, happiness, Norm’s message is quite the contrary: don’t plan

He’s the second person (along with Prof Michael Chu, another person who I want to emulate) who has had great societal and personal success in life, a happy home life, successful career, does philanthropic work, etc. Like Prof Chu, Dr. Payson’s career as turnaround guru in the insurance industry and a big time private equity zonk was not something he mapped out but rather stumbled into and became good at because he liked it. In fact, he started his career as a family doc in the Indian Health Service in Arizona before joining the first group practice which he later became CEO of and sold before starting a successful HMO and then turning around a major insurance company in Oxford health and selling that. Its interesting to hear him say now that despite all of his success in business and all the impact that he has had to insurance companies, doctors and patients that he doesn’t think there is anything one could do that has the same emotional impact as helping a patient especially one from a vulnerable population. So as to the questions of what do I want to do with my career, my degree, my life (questions I get asked and ask myself all the time), in the end, I think I’m gonna just do what I feel like.

As Norm says, no matter how much you plan, its very unlikely that you’ll map your way into being uber-rich but if you follow your passions, you have a good chance of living a happier life.