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Linda McConnell's avatar

My first choice of specialties was Neuro. Studying the brain and neurotransmitters and synapses was amazing to me. But I was scared to enter that type of intensity because I thought I wasn't good enough and because I figured that the doctors would yell at me or chastise me in public for not knowing the answer or doing something incorrectly. (This was back in the day where nurses stood for doctors to sit at the nurse's station. When you could hear a surgeon bellowing at someone through closed surgical doors). So I chose geriatrics. It was something I was good at, I ended up loving, and I've been in this specialty for my entire career. I'm still learning as I'm eager to know more so I can help my patients and their families more.

Which brings me to another point. Many of the patient population are now Baby Boomers. Having lived through the beginning of a new century. Going from paper and pen to computers with keyboards. Living during a war nobody was happy about. Going to the moon. Living through a time where there were few laws and regulations to new restrictions that don't make sense to us. Listen to your patients keeping in mind when their formative years were which led to the shaping of that person today. It IS important.

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