When I hate my job

I love my job.  I get to save lives.  Whether it's someone in the throes of a massive heart attack, on whom I can perform an angioplasty to open an artery to restore blood flow to the heart, or help someone to control their risk factors to prevent a heart attack in the first place, I make a difference.

On the other side of that, I care for some pretty sick people.  Usually I can help them.  But sometimes I can't.

It is beyond frustrating to do everything in my power to help heal someone, and in spite of this to see him or her die.

I'm often asked, do doctors feel pain when they lose a patient?  I would say absolutely yes.  When we put our own heart and soul, our time, our deep thoughts, into a patient's care, it is hard to see him or her die.

Thankfully, I have far more moments of saving lives and helping my patients to live better.  And, that makes what I do for a living worthwhile.