Last first class

I taught a class at my grad school alma mater this year. It was 1 part pure terror, 1 part tedium, and 5 parts pure inspiration. It was a weekly reminder why I do what I do, a way to fill in a few holes in my knowledge, and an opportunity to feel useful if only for 90 minutes a week. (I know, you say, "You're a nurse practitioner! You must be useful every day!". And while ostensibly that's true, I mostly spend my days convincing people with viral infections that they don't need antibiotics, people with bacterial infections that they do need antibiotics, diabetics that insulin is not a punishment, and thyroid patients that "it's not their thyroid". It doesn't usually feel like I'm useful.)

So when the students finished last week I sent them one final email with one final thought on an article I gave them as their congratulations-you're-graduating gift. (It was, not surprisingly, a New Yorker article, the subject of which was aging.) I read my email to them again today to give myself a boost:

One thought I had on the way home about the article I left for you: that article really reminded me about humanity. When we work in healthcare, I believe we are stewards, guides, partners in better health. Nothing we do or don't do changes the final outcome. We will all age in some way. How we do that is up to us. There is often not a "right" answer, which makes the job more nebulous, but also more open to interpretation and molding for specific patients and for you.

Don't be afraid to mold your practice, to seek information, and to be proud of what you have already accomplished. Remember that you will never know everything; if you did you wouldn't be able to speak or walk and you would be incredibly bored. Use your resources: it takes a village to keep the village healthy. Remember that you will cry at least once out of frustration, at least once out of sincere empathy for a bad situation, and at least once because you kicked ass. Be confident and humble: it is a combination that will take you far.