In my childhood, I frequently used to visit Mymensingh Medical College as it was my father's workplace. There he took classes in the galleries filled with students and I couldn't help myself to be impressed at the sight. I made up my mind that I not only wanted to be a doctor but also a mentor to them. It is my belief that playing the role of a healer a doctor can attend to a great many number of patients but if he plays the part of a teacher also then through his students he can benefit a much larger number of people.
The reason why that I've chosen endocrinology as my subspeciality is that people's suffering ails me too. After internship, I joined BIRDEM. There I observed the difficulties of diabetic patients and decided to pursue my career in endocrinology. At that time there were very few endocrinologists in our country. So setting up a career here was quite a challenge. But now when I see that I've made some contribution in "Inferior Petrosal Sinus Sampling", a method that was used for the first time in our country to diagnose Cushing's Syndrome, I feel that I've made the right decision. In the treatment of thyroid cancer, many patients aren't able to take "Radioiodine Therapy". To make the patient fit for the therapy, we apply recombinant TSH which is too a milestone in the medical history of this country. The experience of spearheading this treatment method will certainly inspire me to explore newer technologies in future.
Besides treating a patient, the other activity in which I find joy is teaching students. If I don't pass on the experience and knowledge I've gathered over all these years to the next generation, then our health system will never prosper. A doctor should never keep his learnt knowledge to his own but he should try his utmost to spread it among others. We can tell from the thirst of knowledge in students that each of them holds the potential to be best in the world one day.
One thing that doesn't go unnoticed that there is a lot of difference between today's DMC to the one I knew as a student. Nowadays cultural programs aren't arranged that much. As a student I actively participated in many functions. I've been chief organiser in many as well. I loved to play the tabla. I emphasize on co-curricular activities very much because by reading only books you can become a doctor but to be a good doctor you have to be a good human being first. You have to sympathize with people. Your behaviour must be good with patients and you must develop good communication skills for better dealing. In these cases, your participation in co-curricular activities can help you greatly.
At the end of the day, a patient chooses his physician because he puts his trust in him. To honor that trust, we should try to be a good human being besides being a good doctor.
