A Great Lecture

I had the privilege to sit through a lecture accompanied with hands-on training by a specialist in oral  medicine and maxillofacial pathology. Six of us were randomly selected to participate a training session on basic oral anatomy and pathology so that we could gain the skills of screening for oral cancer. I am not a dentist, and this is certainly not even close to my field, but as health care continues to evolve, we are trying to mind the gaps between professions to ultimately provide better care to the community. What this really means is to help screen the public and hopefully point them in the right direction towards the professional from which they should seek proper help. That really isn't the point of this post so I won't go into the details of this pilot program.

Sometimes what makes learning fun is a great speaker. And that's what we got today. I honestly dreaded waking up early just to drive in the opposite direction of where I'd normally drive to work, just to get stuck in traffic and take three times as long to get somewhere. And since I've been officially out of school for more than 10 years now, any boring lectures just really bore me. You can say... I've kind of put continuing education in health care on the back burner for now. Don't get me wrong. We still have to fulfill a number of credits each year in order to renew our liscense to practice, but I haven't done much beyond that. I'm just comfortable, I guess. 

I somehow dragged my usual groggy self to this training ... and surprisingly or not, I really loved it. He was informative, to-the-point, engaging, and funny. I felt his enthusiasm and drive through his speech. Some people are just meant to be doing what they're doing. As we looked at terrifying photos of amputated tongues and jaws, he never disagreed nor warned us that it would be graphic. but it was somehow also very fascinating. The topic was completely new to me. The device we were taught to use was new to me. It all kind of sparked the dormant student inside of me. Reminds me of that kid that I once was ... ever-so-fascinated by all things healthcare-related. Why I even thought of health care in the first place. 

Sometimes, a job can leave you feeling a little jaded. The new grad mentality of helping every single person you come across and saving the world wears off after a while when long hours of shift work, angry unappreciative patients, and business cutbacks brings you to reality. When I sometimes ultimately "complain" about work, it isn't simply because it's been tough and I'm tired and it sucks, but because reality sometimes leaves you uninspired. To do what you've signed up for this job wanting to do. 

By saying that, I don't really mean saving the world. Or even saving a person's life. Nor am I saying that health care reigns above other professions because we "save lives". I sometimes find myself treading water when I start talking about "how much health professionals do". I've come to realize that only people in health care understand. And we each have our own journey, in our careers... and nobody else needs to understand. And in no means am I ever implying that we "do more" than any other profession. 

But before I go off on a tangent, a great speaker and learning again has restored my inspiration. Doesn't mean I'll be skipping to work tomorrow in a happier mood, but just that I feel a little more enriched with knowledge. I'm better skilled at providing a service.

Ah what the hell, pardon my babble - today, I had fun at a geeky lecture. That's all.