Medical student Jamie Katuna brilliantly encapsulates the state of medicine via spoken word.

Here’s what she says:

the state of medicine now
does not appeal to me
lousy
crowded
inhumane
insane how we treat those in pain
they’re confused
they feel abused
used by a system they didn’t choose
coerced
forced to be treated like another digit
a statistic, a misfit, what is this?
in our quest for efficiency
doctors must work relentlessly
endlessly
till they are spent, and see
no satisfaction
no chance for compassionate action
they can’t thrive
just survive
just stay alive
do what needs to be done to get by
demonized by eyes
looking at them like
“why can’t you take more time to find what I am plagued by?”
the only possible reply:
I try

a revolution is coming
an evolution of health
we’ll alter the way we see disease
the way we treat those in need
expand responsibility and decree
to physicians
let. them. lead.
stand up to the greed
of insurance companies
incentivize the deeds of PCPs
actively refute the notion that health
is a system of wealth
of status, of complete superiority
the more you see
that connection, attention, honor and affection
can propel us from this systemic detention
the more we can grow
and show what we know
out of love
out of care
we’ll dare to reclaim
this intimate interaction
a fraction at a time
until it is one over one
until we have won
and the reductionism has gone
long and far away
replaced by wholesome
humane
compassionate and sane
medicine

I’m not a doctor yet
but I know I won’t regret
this path
or let it beat me to indifference
Or grow jaded
A faded trace of the vision I decided to chase
I’m not a doctor yet
But soon I’ll be
And we’ll finally see
I’m the physician
I dreamed I’d be

Jamie Katuna is a medical student.