This great comedian has just passed away. And strangely his death has hit me quite a bit. Not really sure why. But I believe his movies have touched many in both the humourous and serious sides. To commemorate him, I decided to show this movie in my class with the purpose to illustrate how we could connect with our clients.
But I feel this part will be exceptionally useful for other psychology students out there.
Abstract from Patch Adams (1998) movie:
You treat a disease, you win, you lose. You treat a person, I guarantee you, you win, no matter what the outcome.Take-away from this part for psychology students: Do not study without a purpose. Make sure you study with the purpose of understanding the human mind and behaviour, and not for your grades. And interact with people as much as you can, as there is often much more you can learn from them than you ever know.
Now here today, this room is full of medical students. Don't let them anesthetize you. Don't let them numb you out to the miracle of life. Always live in awe of the glorious mechanism of the human body. Let that be the focus of your studies and not a quest for grades, which'll give you no idea what kind of doctor you will become. Don't wait till you're on the ward to get your humanity back.
Start your interviewing skills now. Start talking to strangers. Talk to your friends, talk to wrong numbers, talk to everyone.
And cultivate friendships with those amazing people in the back of the room - nurses that can teach you. They've been with people every day. They wade through blood and shit. They have a wealth of knowledge, and so do the professors you respect - the ones who are not dead from the heart up. Share their compassion. Let that be contagious.
And this next part is more about me:
This is what I want to do with my life. And as God is my witness, no matter what your decision today, Sir, I will still become the best damn doctor the world has ever seen. Now you have the ability to prevent me from graduating. You can keep me from getting the title and the white coat. But you can't control my spirit, gentlemen. You can't keep me from learning. You can't keep me from studying. So you have a choice. You can have me as a professional colleague, passionate, or you can have me as an outspoken outsider, still adamant. Either way, I'll probably still be viewed as a thorn. But I promise you one thing. I am a thorn that will not go away.For those who do not like me or do not see the purpose of why I am writing this blog and the posts, it is to better prepare the psychology students, current and future, for what they are coming up against. I believe this will only improve our psychology scene in Singapore, and not meant to criticise it in any way or form. I will keep on researching and writing, as long as my brain and mind allows. So you have a choice. Try to understand my views and try to improve our psychology scene in Singapore, or just ignore me. "But I promise you one thing. I am a thorn that will not go away." (I love this sentence...)
Comments
Post a Comment