"What profession would you pursue if you couldn't do anything related to medicine?" I distinctly remember being asked this question during one of my medical school interviews. At the time, I responded that I would be a teacher - specifically, a math or science one - because of my interest in education and love of these particular subjects. Parallels can easily be drawn between teacher and physician: both are responsible for educating, they are known in society to care and nurture others and both professions are integral to any and all communities. But as of late, I've been revisiting the question because of my passions outside of medicine. Last month, one of the staff members at my school asked if I would design her wedding invitations. Initially, I didn't think I had the time or the experience to take on such a complex graphic design project. Since my first computer in late-elementary school, I've loved turning an abstract image in my mind into a visually appealing product. When I was in middle school, my friend and I started a blog offering free HTML website designs. My website design "career" was short-lived, but I never let go of my love for basic graphic design. This opportunity to create a wedding invitation seemed like the perfect way to get back into something I'm passionate about and create a meaningful product. Designing the wedding invitation spurred the creation of an Etsy shop. I do not claim to be a true graphic designer [let's be realistic here, I'm in medical school; my friends who have a true graphic design degree can do much more involved and complex work], but I am capable of creating intricate and near-professional pieces. I find the creative design process to be a huge stress-reliever and [sometimes] more exciting than studying, which has led to an addendum in my original answer to the interview question; I would still be a math/science teacher but I would spend my summers doing design work. The question posed was completely hypothetical in nature -- I would never voluntarily leave medicine -- but I hope that someday I will be able to integrate my non-medical passions into my medical career. Source
