One key lesson I have learned, or topic I have come to learn and understand, is how the humanity of health care professionals effects their work and their spirits. Some key books that have shed light on this for me are Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery by Henry Marsh, Patient Care by Paul Seward, and Confessions of a Surgeon by Paul A. Ruggieri. I have enjoyed learning about and preparing myself emotionally and mentally for the ware that surgeons face, because I want to pursue a career as a general trauma surgeon. It is fascinating to see these writers’ struggles between their own short comings and understanding their jobs and all the baggage that comes with them. For instance, health care professionals have review boards where they have to discuss their cases that contained error and ended with the death of a patient. It is that honest and raw confrontation of human error and fault that is able to keep surgeons honest and, I think overall, humble. The approach to medicine has to be honest and zealous, because anything else is not in the patients’ favor. I was able to see this in real life not too long ago. I was volunteering in a hospital where most cases that came through our unit were related to optometry and urology. One morning, not long after I had clocked in, we had an unusual case come in as a post-operation patient. It was a woman who had just had a miscarriage of her 19 week old baby. I still remember her weeping. She knew it was a girl. For the rest of my four hour shift I listened to her sob uncontrollably, and I fought tears back the entire time. I couldn’t understand how the nurses working in my unit couldn’t even seem as bothered, until I realized they couldn’t afford to. They couldn’t afford to get deeply emotionally involved in heartbreaking cases, or else they would burn out from mental and emotional exhaustion. I realized from further reading that those nurses weren’t weak because they couldn’t empathize without burning out, but in fact were stronger than I could even imagine at the time for being able to keep themselves caring enough to be good nurses, but detached enough to be able to do their jobs at hand. I have learned that a great surgeon must have a tender heart and a genuine desire to help people, but the endurance and clarity to understand that they are in fact human, bound to make mistakes. I have learned that it is a hard field to work in, because of the emotional wear it can have, yet I have never heard a surgeon say they wish they had not gone into the medical field. That’s telling. Beneath the hardships and brokenness, each health care professional just wants to help others. I have to believe that they would not have made it to where they are if they did not genuinely have that desire. That is beautiful to me, and I think that is one of the biggest lessons I have learned from reading. I will face tragedy and will have to confront my own errors, but if I sincerely want to help other people, I will find a way.