4 major ways docs' skills can be used outside of medicine
Industry Buzz
I tell everyone that overnight call as a medicine intern is the best possible prep for parenting a newborn.
—@terracottatilefish via Reddit
A recent r/medicine prompt asked a deceptively fun question: What hard skills from work do you use outside of medicine?
Medical training changes the way physicians move through the nonmedical world. Some of these skills are obvious. Others are oddly specific. Together, they show how much of medicine is really a toolkit for navigating chaos.
1. Parenting a newborn
“I tell everyone that overnight call as a medicine intern is the best possible prep for parenting a newborn,” said Reddit user and primary care physician @terracottatilefish.
“You have been awake for 22 hours. You are summoned to the bedside by a loud noise. The person in the bed is angry, confused, and inarticulate. You assess the situation, deal with the person in the bed calmly and kindly, provide snacks/medication/repositioning/hygiene, and you leave the bedside, aware that you are likely to be summoned again in an hour," they wrote.
“Drunks in the ED are unironically excellent toddler training,” Reddit user and emergency medicine physician @livinglavidajudoka agreed.
“I think taking care of them for years made me a better, more patient parent. Screaming, crying, begging for food at bedtime, loss of bowel and bladder control, help getting into clothing/pajamas, etc.,” they said.
Related: Hobbies that can make you a better doctor2. DIY projects
“I fix holes in my dog’s toys with simple interrupted sutures, using a needle driver, curved upholstery needle, and instrument tie. Takes her longer to rip those out than a running stitch. I also use forceps and hemostats to build miniatures,” said Reddit user and HCP @spironoWHACKtone.
“Darning. I can repair holes in almost any garment invisibly,” said Reddit user and HCP @Digginginthesand.
“Taking a wire from work to thread a dashcam cord through the space between the plastic molding and the exterior roof of the car. Doing it by feel is apparently very difficult for non-trained folks. Ask your local interventional cardiologist/IR/urologist if you need help!” said Reddit user and urologist @eep_peep.
3. Cooking
“I just tied my spatchcocked [chicken’s] legs together with a one hand surgical knot. Not so sure that’s hard, but it does make trussing up meat easier without a second set of hands,” said Reddit user and HCP @peaheezy.
“Carving turkey at Thanksgiving. You can tell everyone ‘I learned by cutting up people,’” added Reddit user and psychiatrist @chickendance638.
Related: 5 hobbies uniquely suited for emergency medicine physicians4. Dealing with stressful situations
“I'm a little too cool under pressure. Kid falls and hurts themselves, or a deep cut, or any sort of household emergency and I feel like I'm being judged for not 'being normal' and screaming, rushing things. Instead, I take a beat, judge severity and run a little BLS/AVPU before then examining the person, and then doing first aid. It's not like I'm the only one there doing things, there usually are more than a few headless chickens gumming things up, but it usually ends up okay,” said Reddit user and HCP @fudgemental.