dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

“Follow your gut,” speaker (Fauci) tells graduates

Anthony Fauci, M.D., encouraged the 88 members of the Class of 2016 to follow their instincts, even if it means challenging the conventional wisdom and the advice of colleagues and mentors. In his Commencement address, Fauci described the path that led him to a career in infectious diseases and leadership of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Fauci had completed a residency in internal medicine in 1968, followed by an infectious diseases fellowship at NIAID. He was in the early stages of a successful career studying immune-mediated diseases when a report from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention in 1981 described a strange array of symptoms affecting a group of gay men. He felt compelled to study this mysterious disease. While his friends, colleagues, and mentors advised him against pursuing what they called “a self-limited curiosity,” he ignored their advice. That choice informed the trajectory of his career, launching him into the field of infectious disease. “Life is not lived, nor careers formed, in a vacuum,” he said.

Fauci accepted a fellowship at the NIH, even though he feared he was entering a disappearing subfield of medicine. Starting in the 1960s, emphasis had begun to shift from infectious disease to chronic disease. By 1980, many doctors believed that the war against infectious diseases had been won. The victory was short-lived: Shortly after Fauci began at the NIH, the HIV/AIDs epidemic gripped the United States. As such pathogens as Ebola and Zika emerge and reemerge, and researchers discover new ones, Fauci told the graduates, continual learning is integral to any field of medicine. “The scope of what we need to learn is like a giant mosaic, and this giant mosaic is eternally unfinished.” Doctors must keep up with scientific advancements, all the while caring for patients. “You will be participating in the implementation of these techniques while holding on for dear life. … Rest assured that being bored will not be a problem for you.”

He closed by reminding the graduates of the foundation of medicine—a thirst for knowledge and respect for the patient. He quoted Francis W. Peabody, a 19th century physician known for his research on polio and typhoid, by saying, “One of the essential qualities of the physician is an interest in humanity, for the secret of the care of the patient is in caring for the patient.”

https://medicine.yale.edu/news/yale-medicine-magazine/follow-your-gut-speaker-tells-graduates/