Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis. 

Why do I want to study medicine? Because I believe in the possibility for change, and the potential of metamorphosis. The greatest, canonical stories teach us that metamorphosis is universal and accompanies everyone. Metamorphosis is a part of our psyche – seasons change our environment, and time transforms us. 

I also believe in individual agency. Changing the world begins with changing ourselves. Deciding how we want to change ourselves is one of life’s great challenges. Whom do we want to be? And from this change, what new possibilities will shape the world? Regardless of the endeavour, each step forward grows our skillset and paradigm - we are not the same people we were when we started. I believe experiencing this change is one of the greatest honours of our lives. Thereby, my decision to pursue medicine is not about the destination but the change it will bring. It is not about graduating as an MD but beginning a life-long journey of growth, that starts with acquiring the mindset of a doctor – an agent of change for others. 

But why medicine specifically? Life begins and ends in hospitals. They are sacred places, and the way we treat them is a microcosm of society. When operated through love and compassion, healthcare institutions see beyond divisions like gender and socioeconomic status to the elements that unite us – health challenges and their resulting suffering. This perspective does not overlook the real disadvantages that different groups face. For example, health status differences between metropolitan and rural/regional communities require tangible solutions towards equity. However, to sustain real change these solutions must stem from an underlying recognition of sameness, of oneself in another’s suffering. 

This is my motivation for pursuing medicine. I want to enact societal change in how we handle end-of-life care. I see the suffering brought on by modernity’s responses to death; as our lifespans increased, reckoning with our inevitable mortality decreased. Any reminder of death is pushed out of sight and out of mind. The elderly are isolated from society and placed into aged-care facilities as the anti-aging industry profits off of our growing fears. We don’t encounter death as our ancestors did, and as a result, suffer uniquely. When faced with end-of-life care, many are ill-prepared for the ensuing bereavement due to the reduced role of spiritual aids or community networks in individuals’ lives. As such, there is a yearning for healthcare leaders who understand the toll death has. 

Filling the space of these traditional supports is the wisdom provided by palliative care specialists. When crossed with medicine, palliative care represents our ability to empathise with the universal need for human connection during difficult times. When we honour people till their last moments, we reposition ourselves to understand the world through another’s wishes. With this perspective, medicine is about the relationship a doctor has with patients and their families, and how to sustain a meaningful life to the very end. My goal is to train in palliative care, to apply these lessons and philosophies, and to transform myself into an emotional, mental, and spiritual aide to my community. Good doctors can become a beacon of hope. 

But we are only human. I see the challenge ahead. Medicine is academically taxing, and, in practice, palliative care is emotionally difficult.  Palliative care is a spiritual field that requires this holistic perspective to appreciate and respect beliefs at end-of-life. Medicine is more than just treatment, and when individuals run out of options, it is the perspective that can ease suffering. 

Symbolically, this piece represents this next chapter of my life. If everything that exists started as an idea, then my desire to create change begins here. Much like the saying “In principio erat Verbum (In the beginning was the Word)”, at the beginning of this life-long journey is my word – metamorphosis.