The Inspiration

We all have a reason for why we do what we do, whether it be a profession, pursue an interest, etc. The inspiration for this podcast was the loss of a best friend and physician colleague by suicide. I can only say a void is present. One does not get over it, but learns how to deal with it on a daily basis. I have nothing but compassion for Dr. Peg Bicker.

Physicians are human. We have fears, dreams, hopes, and often times what once propelled us into medicine gets lost. At times we can no longer recognize ourselves in the mirror due to conforming and learning to play the game in medicine—-nearly selling our souls to make the attendings, senior residents, etc happy. It becomes an adopted culture as it becomes engrained in us from day 1 of medical school. That culture needs to change. The system needs to change. In the words of a colleague, medicine did not deserve Dr. Bicker.

I believe the KevinMD blog post below very well captures Dr. Bicker’s spirit.

https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2019/07/medicine-claims-the-life-of-a-physician-heroine.html

After talking with Larry, Peg’s widower, I looked back at the photos from over the last decade and then some. He did share a picture of a notecard that today seems very profound. It hits me harder than when we studied it in medical school and residency. Sometimes it is hard to see.