Insights

“Why Do I Continue to Do What I Do?”

I have had a very rewarding career in education for morethan 30 years. My involvement has spanned all levels, in-cluding teaching third graders, coaching high school debateteams, teaching computer technology at the college level,and now administering a large continuing medical educationprogram at a multicampus medical school. However, overthe past year or two, I have often wondered, “Why do Icontinue to do what I do?”

It bothered me that I had to question my purpose: afterall, I’ve always been passionate about teaching and learn-ing, and this passion is what motivated me to get degrees inthis field in the first place. Sometimes I worry that all thechanges in our profession, especially the increasing com-plexity of regulatory issues, may wear me down. Colleaguesin this field often complain that they feel challenged beyondtheir capacity. I’m near enough to retirement that I knowthat I can leave if I no longer enjoy my work. Yet, I keeppressing on, despite wondering what keeps me movingforward.

I gained a better understanding of my concerns whenattending a memorial service for one of our school of med-icine faculty. This person was highly respected and well lovedby all who encountered him. He died unexpectedly, so hisloss was especially hard.

This man was known for his ability to teach without hold-ing class, to speak without saying a word, and to show com-passion with just a look or a touch. He was known as a“tinkerer,” always tweaking and trying to improve and re-fine whatever he came into contact with, even if it did not

need to be fixed! He was not a great orator and, in fact, wasa rather quiet, unassuming man. He was not a prominentpsychiatrist, yet very popular with his patients and col-leagues. He could quietly get to the heart of a problem andredirect you to the solution with a simple look or a fewwords. He was a great teacher just by the way he lived hislife and the example he set. During the service, his students,colleagues, family members, and even some of his patientsremembered him as a remarkable man and described theimpact that he had made on their lives. As I listened to themspeak, I knew that I wanted just such a legacy, and that hisqualities are the very ones to which I aspire. Whether teach-ing students, residents, faculty, or staff, I want them to learnto improve continuously through my example and to guidethem by the way I lead my life. The methods I use to presenta lesson and its content are less important than the exampleI set. If I can influence the next generation of physicians orCME professionals simply by what I do and how I live, thatwill be enough. I regretted that I had missed the opportunityto tell him that he was such an inspiring role model.

Transition points in life provide natural occasions to re-flect on and question our values and roles. I am thankful Istill have opportunity to tinker, to tweak and improve whatI do, getting it into a good enough shape to leave behind.

Melinda Steele, MEdDirector, Continuing Medical EducationTexas Tech University Health Sciences CenterLubbock, Texas

© 2008 The Alliance for Continuing Medical Education, the Society forAcademic Continuing Medical Education, and the Council on CME,Association for Hospital Medical Education. • Published online in WileyInterScience ~www.interscience.wiley.com!. DOI: 10.10020chp.170

JOURNAL OF CONTINUING EDUCATION IN THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS, 28(2):115, 2008