🩺 Scrub In: The Motivated Med Life

If I’m the heroine of my own story, then eventually I can look forward to a happy ending, at least according to the many romance Webtoons I read and the Bible stories I grew up with as a Christian. What I don’t look forward to are the hurdles, conflicts, battles, and inevitable betrayals that seem to be part of every hero’s journey.

Sometimes I wish my life were more like a slice-of-life Webtoon, where I simply cared for fantastical patients in some ethereal Middle-earth-style medical hut. But instead, my struggles in medicine feel more like a sports series: every test is a battle, and only the strong survive. I am the protagonist with no innate “special ability,” just perseverance, critical thinking, and the power of friendship (a.k.a. lots of peer and academic advising support).

Wouldn’t it be nice if this were just a coming-of-age story? The truth is, that phase already passed, and the lessons I learn now often show me that hard work alone isn’t enough. You also need support. You need an opportunity. And in medical school, you often need money.

I don’t even consider my life a romance story right now. Back in high school, I convinced myself I’d go straight into medical school after undergrad and then finally have time to date during med school or later. While I am content to finish medical school before I start dating, I do want to admit to myself that I drastically underestimated how hard it would be to get into medical school. That’s one of life’s many lessons I’m still learning.

Still, I’m grateful, or at least, my “heroine self” is. She reminds me to press on. She reminds me that once I achieved my goal of getting into medical school, the real battle had only just begun. As one of my advisors once said, we often cry over blessings we once begged God to give us. I prayed and worked so hard to get into medical school, and now I pray, work, and cry even harder because medical school is a lot. And yet, I persist, both in medicine and in this story.

Perhaps I’m more like a biblical character than a Webtoon heroine. Maybe the prosperity of my people rests in my hands if I can listen, obey God’s will, and triumph enough to become a doctor. Like Esther, I was given a set of challenges, overcame them, and now find myself in a better position, but one I must use wisely for others. Or like Gideon, who quietly did his job without expecting much, only to hear God call him to something greater. At first he resisted, but eventually, he walked boldly into his purpose.

Whatever the comparison, I keep returning to the same truth: I am the heroine of my own story. That means I can and must decide how the story moves forward. Rather than seeing every failure or setback as a blemish, I want to see them as stepping stones toward success. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and great heroines never have simple stories. Their paths are filled with trials, battles, failures, pain, and fatigue. But when the heroine wins, when she overcomes and finally sees the light at the end of the tunnel, her victory is all the sweeter.

So let me ask you: how do you see yourself lately? Just an NPC? A hero or heroine? Maybe a side character or even the villain in someone else’s story? Do tell.