The job can be emotionally and physically tough. Every day I choose to stay, I reaffirm my commitment to my profession.
Like the ocean, medicine does not call to everyone. Medicine – and especially surgery – is not like other professions. We can put down the scalpel, we can remove the scrubs, but without the costume, a doctor is still a doctor. There is always a medical journal to read, a case to ponder. We spend our entire lives learning, improving, questioning. Patients stay on our minds as we fall asleep at night. Did I tie that knot tightly enough? Was that scan report accurate? Will that patient return with a complication?
When recruiting students into medical school, I don’t believe it matters what reason they give for wanting to be a doctor. All that really matters is whether they’re suited for the profession – whether they have the requisite abilities, and the necessary thoughtfulness – and that they have the passion for it. As doctors, we are privileged to be entrusted with our patients’ most intimate worries and to take responsibility for their care. We must be able to look inside a person without looking away.
Coming from a non-medical family, could I have possibly known what I was signing up for when I sent in that application at the age of 17? The heartache when things go wrong, the elation when you know you’ve made a difference in a patient’s life. The job can be intellectually, emotionally, and physically tough. Is it possible to know that the life-altering decision you made as a teenager was the right one? When self-doubt settles in, or when you feel you don’t belong, how do you know you correctly diagnosed your calling? These questions are all the more pertinent when you consider the current crisis of morale and poor retention of junior doctors in the NHS.
The only answer I can give is in my commitment. Every day that I persevere, I am reaffirming my commitment to my profession. Last year, the Department of Health floated the idea of forcing junior doctors to serve in the NHS for five years after graduating from medical school--a form of conscription for medics. Any “deserters” would be made to repay the cost of their training, on top of their pre-existing student debts. This would have been disastrous. On the darkest days of the job, one of the things that helped me as a junior was the knowledge that I could leave, even if I never chose to.
醫生這份工作是對情感和體能的挑戰。一天天，我都選擇留下，堅守自己對這份職業的承諾。
不是每個人都適合從醫，因為醫生——特別是外科醫生——與其他職業不同。我們可以放下手術刀，可以磨去死皮，但脫下白大褂下班後，醫生還得是醫生。我們總有醫學日誌要看，總有案例要思考，我們一生都在學習、改進和追問。夜晚入睡了，患者還縈繞在我們腦海：那個節我打得夠結實嗎？那份掃描報告準確嗎？那個病人是否會因併發症再來就醫？
招募醫學院新生時，我認為他們給出的從醫理由並不重要，重要的是他們是否適合這個職業——是否具有所需的能力和同理心——以及是否對此抱有熱情。作為醫生，我們擁有患者的信任，聆聽他們心中所憂，為他們的健康負責，因而也必須能夠通過這個人本身看到他真正的需求。
我家中無人從醫，17歲我提交入學申請時是否知道這意味著什麼呢？現在我知道，這意味著出錯時的心碎，是得知某位患者的人生因你而不同時的狂喜，是對智識、情感和體能的多重挑戰。如何判斷你17歲時作出的那個改變人生的決定正確與否？特別是在你自我懷疑或失去歸屬感時？當你思考目前英國國家醫療體系中存在的青年醫生信心不足和流失危機時，這些問題是關鍵。
對此，我唯一能給出的答案就是我的承諾。我一日日的堅持，正是一次次地堅守自己對這份職業的諾言。去年，英國衛生部試探性地規定青年醫生從醫學院畢業後須在英國國民醫療服務體系中工作五年——就好像醫學生徵兵制。“逃兵”除了要交就學貸款外，還要補交受訓費用。這麼做可能會使問題加劇，因為在我工作最困難的日子裡，助我這名青年醫生撐下來的就是知道自己可以選擇離開，雖然我從未如此。
單詞註釋
profession 職業
scalpel 手術刀
scrub 死皮
complication 併發症
entrust 委託，託付
diagnose 診斷
pertinent 直接相關的
NHS 英語全稱National Health Service，即（英國）國民醫療服務體系
句式分析
1.（1）All that really matters is （2）whether they’re suited for the profession--whether they have the requisite abilities, and the necessary thoughtfulness--and（3）that they have the passion for it.
1.All...is：主句，說明作者認為從醫需具備以下三點。
2.whether...thoughtfulness：whether引導的名詞性從句，列出兩點，即必備的能力和同理心。
3. that...it：that引導的名詞性從句，列出第三點，即對這份職業的熱情。
簡說：英國醫生PLAB考試
專業與語言評估考試（
Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board，PLAB）是英國執業醫師資格考試，面向國際醫學生，直屬於英國總醫學會（GMC）。報考資格包括受英國認可的醫學學位證明、雅思成績證明及工作和執照證明。PLAB考試分為兩部分，考生必須分別通過後才可向英國總醫學會提出註冊申請，取得執照後方可在英國行醫。
鏈接：https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/61544288
博珂英華：專注財經以及職場英語的知識分享、教材編寫和提升課程
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