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“Fit” is why I thought I belonged in primary care and not in pulmonary critical care. I saw women who wore their hearts on their sleeves in primary care, and intimidating, stoic men in the ICU. Grateful for mentors (men and women) who challenged that narrow conception https://twitter.com/jbmatthews/status/1291749327371632640
Also grateful for my primary care teachers who taught me so much about the human side of medicine and wholeheartedly supported me when I took the leap to do pulm crit
Thinking about this more and remembering a white male attending telling me that you can figure out what field is right for you by thinking about which attendings and residents you would want to get coffee with. I get the sentiment but it’s so flawed
So of course the primary care / family medicine folks who talked about social justice and health inequity and changing healthcare appealed to me. Nevermind that *clinically* I loved cardiopulm pathophysiogy and wasn’t so jazzed about A1cs, vaccines or well visits
And thus many years of career confusion ensued... applying to residency in two fields... applying for critical care out of a primary care track... it’s all working out but I’m just floored by all the bad advice I got re “fit”
The reality is that the people we most need in medicine won’t feel like they fit in because the norm has always been white, straight, cis, male, parented by doctor, etc. Choosing a field shouldn’t be about fitting into a standard mold. Medicine needs to expand for all of us.
