The meaning of an MD thesis

Autor: Ramon Salazar

21/10/2024
A single case study

The word doctor in its first two meanings is:
1. Person who has obtained a doctorate.
2. Physician.
It had been a while since I had enjoyed the academic act of a thesis defense, and last week, chance played its part. I attended two brilliantly defended theses that made me reflect on the diverse nature of the motivations for which we university students undergo these memorable academic exercises.
I will share my disorganized thoughts inspired by the first of them, which I attended as a listener, friend, and admirer of the doctoral candidate Bernardo Queralt. Bernardo is a seasoned veteran of frontline oncology who, after a long career as a specialist, has impeccably defended a thesis that is improbable due to its highly pre-clinical content.
Uniqueness of the doctorate in the field of Medicine.
For most doctoral candidates in various university disciplines, the doctoral thesis is undoubtedly an initiatory experience and the only way to enter the realm of a career as a teacher or researcher, or in some cases, both. By the way, it is very difficult to be both a good teacher and researcher, much less combine it with professional activity, but this topic will be the subject of another post in the future. In today's blog, I want to gloss over a singular context and interpretation of what this academic degree can mean in the field of Medicine.
In many cases, more frequent than one might think, the doctoral thesis in Medicine has another meaning, closer to a culmination of a career than to its initial period. It is a colossal personal challenge that many face in the maturity of their career, as a kind of moral obligation to justify the legitimate treatment of "doctor" that the general population confers on medical graduates based on its second meaning of the term according to the RAE. A heroic act to which they dedicate many hours outside of working hours and their professional comfort zone, for an intangible benefit, an isolated and unpaid academic recognition, which confirms that the candidate has overcome their challenge, a true demonstration of intellectual and scientific integrity.
The motivations for a late thesis: the culmination of a healthcare career.
Dr. Bernardo Queralt is a good, humble, and generous person, an oncologist with enormous humanity whom none of his life or professional colleagues would identify as a selfish person. However, when I asked him about his motivation for obtaining a doctorate, after thinking for a few seconds, he answered me with great clarity: "it has been an exercise in ego." He gave me this answer so incoherent with his nature and remained silent. Could it be that he has two personalities? Or is it simply a wrong answer?
Bernardo, I rather believe that you have completed your doctoral thesis out of a sense of moral obligation to your profession, to dignify not only your career, which does not need it, but that of all those anonymous heroes of healthcare who spend sleepless nights, sometimes hiding from their families, to comply with an unwritten law that the medical career does not fully end until the treatment of "doctor" is justified not only by the second meaning of the RAE but also by the first. Don't you think?
What do you readers think? Does any other doctor want to share their story and motivations?
Medicine

0 comentarios

Nombre:
Escribe un comentario:
Publicar