Meeting non-medics: A fresh perspective
Dear Friend,
I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend. For the first time in a month, I decided to take this weekend completely off – no work, no revision, no tasks. It was much-needed. The downside is that tomorrow, I’m starting another seven-day stretch of long hours, and I’ll be on call next weekend. Plus, I need to get back into revision mode for my upcoming oncology interview.
Yesterday, I attended a farewell party for a friend who is moving to Austria for a few years as part of an internal transfer with his company. During the party, especially after a couple of drinks, I found myself conversing with people from a variety of backgrounds. Some were pursuing master’s degrees in fields I had little exposure to, while others were working in the pharmaceutical industry. Initially, I didn’t think much of it, but soon I realized how much I had become immersed in the “medicine bubble” simply by listening to their experiences and perspectives.
It was truly eye-opening. These individuals had different concerns, interests, and ways of thinking. Some were focused on research innovations outside of the clinical setting, while others were working on issues that, though not directly related to healthcare, intersected with the medical world in ways I hadn’t previously considered.
Their viewpoints forced me to reflect on how we, as healthcare professionals, can sometimes become narrow-minded in our approach to our careers. It also made me realize that it often takes stepping outside your field and interacting with people from different disciplines to understand that life doesn’t always have to be so regimented and meticulously planned.
Life is More Than an Application
Over the past few months, I’ve been feeling increasingly stressed about my application. After all, it’s something I’ve been working towards for the last four years. It impacts where I’ll work, my specialty, and even personal factors like settling down—things that can feel incredibly overwhelming. However, at the party yesterday, it was refreshing to meet people who, even at the age of 28, are still figuring things out. When someone asks a doctor, “What are your plans?” you rarely hear, “I don’t know, let’s see.” But it was reassuring to see that outside of medicine, this is a perfectly normal response. Why should we feel locked into a career for the rest of our lives in our twenties? In fact, one of my friends, who has been in a stable job in the banking industry for five years, is leaving it this summer to pursue a master’s and retrain.
Enough About Application Ratios
It was also a refreshing change not to talk about medicine for an evening. I realized how often, when I’m with my medical friends, we end up complaining about work. It’s the same conversation over and over—something about the long hours, the night shifts, or some piece of technology that’s malfunctioning. The general tone is negative. But it was nice to discuss other things—like my next travel plans, upcoming stag dos, new innovations in the pharmaceutical industry, and everything in between.
This experience really underscored the importance of broadening our circles and learning from those outside the medical field. We often become so immersed in our work that we forget there’s a whole world of knowledge and insights beyond the hospital or clinic. Engaging with people in different professions allows us to challenge our assumptions, expand our perspectives, and find creative solutions to complex issues.
So, How Can We Integrate This Into Our Professional Lives?
This doesn’t mean we need to abandon our focus on medicine, but it’s crucial to regularly expose ourselves to diverse perspectives. Attend events, join social gatherings, or simply strike up a conversation with someone from a completely different background. Whether through a casual chat at a party or a formal networking event, these interactions can help us see things from new angles and enhance our approach to patient care, research, and even policy-making.
Ultimately, medicine isn’t practiced in isolation. To truly become the best doctors we can be, we need to understand the world around us—not just the clinical world, but also the people, industries, and societal issues that shape our lives. Engaging with non-medical professionals not only enriches our work but also strengthens our empathy and deepens our understanding of the world our patients live in.
Have a wonderful week ahead.
Drug of the week
Degarelix
Degarelix, sold under the brand name Firmagon among others, is a hormonal therapy used in the treatment of prostate cancer
Degarelix has an immediate onset of action, binding to gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptors in the pituitary gland and blocking their interaction with GnRH.
The GnRH antagonist degarelix, through its ability to reduce serum testosterone, is used to treat hormone-sensitive prostate cancer
A Brain Teaser
A 32-year-old professional dancer presents with acute lower back pain radiating down her left leg. She made an error during a performance yesterday and landed awkwardly. She reports sensory loss over the anterior aspect of the left knee and medial malleolus, as well as difficulty extending her left knee and adducting her left hip.
On examination, her left knee reflex is diminished. Her past medical history is not significant and she is otherwise healthy.
What is the most likely compressed spinal nerve root?
A: L2 nerve root compression
B: L3 nerve root compression
C: L4 nerve root compression
D: L5 nerve root compression
E: Lumbar spinal stenosis
Answers
The answer is C – L4 nerve root compression.
L4 nerve root compression is correct. L4 nerve root compression typically presents with sensory loss over the anterior aspect of the knee and medial malleolus. The L4 nerve root also innervates muscles responsible for knee extension (quadriceps) and hip adduction (adductor muscles). Thus, the patient’s reported difficulty extending their knee and adducting their hip can be attributed to L4 nerve root compression, as well as reduced knee reflex as the L4 nerve root is also involved in the patellar (knee jerk) reflex.
L2 nerve root compression is incorrect. L2 nerve root compression typically presents with sensory loss over the anterior thigh and weak hip flexion due to the involvement of the iliopsoas muscle. The patient’s presentation, however, includes sensory loss over the anterior aspect of the knee and medial malleolus, weak knee extension and hip adduction, and a reduced knee reflex, which is more indicative of an L4 nerve root compression.
L3 nerve root compression is incorrect. L3 nerve root compression typically presents with sensory loss over the anterior thigh, weak hip flexion (iliopsoas muscle), knee extension (quadriceps muscle), and hip adduction (adductor muscles), along with a reduced knee reflex. However, the patient’s presentation includes sensory loss over the anterior aspect of the knee and medial malleolus, which is more characteristic of an L4 nerve root compression.
L5 nerve root compression is incorrect. L5 nerve root compression typically presents with foot dorsiflexion weakness, sensory loss over the lateral lower leg, and normal reflexes. The patient’s presentation, however, includes sensory loss over the anterior aspect of the knee and medial malleolus, weak knee extension and hip adduction, and reduced knee reflex, which is more indicative of an L4 nerve root compression.
Lumbar spinal stenosis is incorrect. Lumbar spinal stenosis refers to a narrowing of the spinal canal in the lumbar region, which can cause compression of multiple nerve roots, leading to lower back pain and leg pain. Whilst lumbar spinal stenosis may cause similar symptoms to L4 nerve root compression, the specific sensory loss over the anterior aspect of the knee and medial malleolus, weak knee extension and hip adduction, and reduced knee reflex described in the patient’s presentation is more characteristic of an isolated L4 nerve root compression. Moreover, in lumbar spinal stenosis, the pattern of sensory and motor deficits might be more diffuse or involve multiple levels, making it much less likely to explain the patient’s focused symptoms.
