Memory, Money, and Medicine
Memory, Money, and Medicine: A Doctor’s Perspective When I speak with students hoping to enter medical school, I often ask them why they want to be doctors. Too often, the answers are rehearsed. They tell me what they think the interviewer wants to hear: “I want to help people.” “I’ve always been fascinated by science.” The reality? Many already have their eye on a lucrative specialty. They know how to play the admissions game, how to shape a perfect résumé, and how to memorize the right answers. There’s no doubt these students are bright — but bright in a very particular way. They have excellent memories. They can cram for an exam and come out with an A. The same is true in law: I’ve met lawyers who could recall case precedents verbatim but couldn’t think outside the lines when a client’s situation didn’t match the textbook. Medicine, however, isn’t a memory contest. It’s an art practiced in the grey zone, where guidelines meet messy human realities. Patients don’t arrive with m...