Medical doctors seem like they have it all. They are portrayed as faultless, perfectly content human beings who walk through the squeaky tile floors of hospitals in their ironed white coats. In TV shows and movies, it seems as though doctors live a luxurious life and manage to balance their social, family, and work life with extreme ease, even if they performed an open heart surgery hours before. However, most of the time this isn’t true. Just like all human beings and all professions, there are certain disadvantages to be taken into account. I know this because my dad is a non-invasive cardiologist, and hearing his stories and responses to my many questions has shed light on some of the parts of medicine that I didn’t know before. It has also taught me more about the type of person my dad is in general, and in a professional setting as well.

My father is nearing his sixties now. His hair is balding and wrinkles are beginning to form around his honey brown eyes. However, his age does not prevent him from going out and doing all of the things he loves. He is a very simple person and minor things like going for walks in the park and having a nice family dinner make him extremely happy. He is passionate about medicine and religion, and I owe a lot of my knowledge about these things to him. In fact, people in my family often approach him for advice about health because he knows natural remedies for a lot of different illnesses. For example, every time I have a test coming up he tells me to eat walnuts because they “are in the shape of a brain and will help me concentrate on my studies.” Also, every time I get stressed, which is very often, he tells me to “rub coconut oil onto my scalp so that I can sleep better and relax.” Although I never do that last part, I still appreciate the tokens of advice he gives me here and there. His soft-spoken persona and the genuine concern he has for others is something that helps him succeed not only as a parent but as a cardiologist as well.

When asking my dad why he chose the extremely demanding specialty of cardiology, it took him no less than five seconds to answer. He told me the touching story of how his father suddenly passed away when he was only in his second year of medical school from a heart attack. This significant event made him develop a passion for saving other people’s lives from heart disease and pushed him to pursue the field of cardiology. He said that the “determination and desire to tackle the disease that took his father’s life without warning helped [him] graduate medical school with distinguished honors and with the top of the class.”

Since he is a non-invasive cardiologist, all of the tasks he does on a daily basis are non-surgical. Some of these procedures include inserting pacemakers, which are artificial devices used for stimulating the heart muscles and regulating its contractions, and another one is using echocardiograms to produce images of the heart.  He also uses catheters to diagnose specific heart conditions, which is called cardiac catheterization. All of these procedures make his days extremely long and tough, which is definitely one of the downsides of having a career in medicine. When asked if there was one thing he could change about his job, he said, “I wish I had a little more time off with family and friends.”  Unfortunately for him, this change cannot be easily implemented.

He works in a small, rural setting in which healthcare disparities are much greater. There is a shortage of medical professionals and there is less access to the newest medical technology and innovations. This puts a major strain on the overall quality of healthcare offered to the patients who come in to see him. The point at which he started to describe his patients in detail was probably the most fascinating part of the whole interview. The majority of them are old, overweight, and smokers. A lot of them lead sedentary lifestyles and don’t include exercise in their daily routines.  Their diet consists of mostly carbohydrates and greasy fast food.  In fact, the average woman he sees is around 300 lbs. while the men are around 450 lbs. He told me about other unique clients as well. One of his patients had financial struggles because he was very careless with how he spent money.  The patient chose to spend most of his income on cigarettes and did not have an ample amount of money for healthy food and other necessities.  Another one of his patients refused to stop drinking soft drinks and would bring a large glass of Cocoa-Cola with her to every appointment.  When I asked what the most interesting case of all was, his face grew very serious as he told me the following story:

"I had a patient who had recurrent fainting spells and was only eighteen years old.  He would faint while playing sports, giving presentations in front of the class, watching scary movies, and at other random times throughout the day. My colleagues and I found out that his heart would stop for more than sixteen or seventeen seconds during excessively stressful situations.  We ended up having to put a pacemaker in him so that he could start leading a normal life again."

To my father, cardiology is much more than finding quick treatment options for various diseases like congestive heart failure, palpitations, angina, and arrhythmia.  Although the hours are long and he is constantly put in excessively stressful situations, getting up for work every day is something he looks forward to because he has the opportunity to save lives and make a substantial difference in the world.  His extremely sweet personality is something that everyone in his life, including his patients, colleagues, and family appreciates. The passion and drive my dad has for medicine is not something that can come from simply putting on a white coat or loosely draping a stethoscope around his neck. That kind of passion can only come from having an experience that changes the way a person thinks and pushes them in the direction that they are destined to go in. After having this conversation with my dad, I’ve realized how important it is to be genuine and have good intentions in the work one chooses to do, regardless if they decide to become a teacher, librarian, tennis player, singer, or engineer. Dedication and an eagerness to work is everything. That’s definitely something that my dad has, and I hope one day, when I become a working professional, it’s something I’ll have too.