Are you interested in writing? PRN member, physician, and author Dr. Kathleen Rokavec shares some of her thoughts on writing as a doctor in this article titled “An Imposter?”

“Hello. My name is Dr. Kathleen Rokavec, and I am a writer………………………………….(whew)…I always wait for lightening to strike when I say that. I sometimes feel like an imposter in this strange new world. I am a doctor–not a writer - right? For the past 20 years I have lived, breathed, slept, and dreamed medicine. That is all I knew. That is all I had time to know. It was my work life, my social life, my life life. My vacations even revolved around medical conferences.

So - what makes me think that I can be a writer? Well - what makes anyone a writer? They write. Physicians spend most of their day writing - we are pretty good at it (even if you can’t read our handwriting). Unfortunately we become so immersed in our work, our patients, and our never-ending education, that it becomes our comfort zone. We forget about our other talents and skills. We forgot how to use them in other ways. We are great writers, speakers, educators, and even salesmen. It is what we do every day.

In considering alternative career paths for doctors, and other professionals, we don’t have to forgo our many years of education and experience. We can instead use our background and many life experiences to break into the non-clinical world. It is not a waste - it is a rich resume of life experiences.

My gradual transition from clinical medicine to writing will allow me to use all of my talents to reach many more patients than I can by seeing one at a time. We all know that change is inevitable, especially in healthcare. If you are experiencing job burnout or just want a more flexible and potentially more profitable career, explore your talents and passions and find the work you love.”

By Kathleen A Rokavec, MD
Author, The Hospital Book
www.thehospitalbook.com

This entry was posted on Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 9:31 pm and is filed under Creative Arts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.