The Rewarding Journey of Harmonizing Healing and Way of Life

I am a physician by profession. After completing my MBBS, I earned my first MSc in Cancer Research and Precision Oncology from the University of Glasgow, Scotland. Upon returning to my home country, I began working and serving people. Currently, I am in the third year of my second MSc in Internal Medicine at the University of Edinburgh. It takes dedication to touch consecutive milestones in academia, and it has been a long and ambitious journey juggling a frantic professional schedule alongside my continuing academic studies.

Despite my professional commitments, I have never outpaced myself from the cultural world, a core zone of my life since childhood. Recitation, music, and writing are the creative portholes that deeply resonate with my soul. I have rarely taken drawn-out breaks from my cultural activities since I was four. I'm often asked, "How do you manage medicine alongside all this?" I always respond by asking myself, "Could I continue with medicine if I didn't have art and culture in my life?" And every time, my soul reciprocates with a resounding "No."

Today, I want to share how my cultural involvement has critically held up and embellished my journey in medicine. There is a spiritual connection between my engagement with music and the arts and my essence. Medicine, while rewarding, is undoubtedly a challenging career. I chose this path to connect with people and serve them precisely. This humanitarian drive was deeply embedded in my soul long before I solemnly pledged medicine while participating in cultural events and connecting thoughtfully with people.

I find myself in a spiritual sphere where reality collides with the heart's core. It requires deep empathy to truly comprehend people at their most vulnerable, to meet them where they are emotionally low, and to bestow what they genuinely need. Art and music give me that acromatic sense of reality, guiding me toward kindness, humility, and sincerity—essential qualities in medicine. Balancing a demanding medical career with a passion for the arts has sometimes been strenuous beyond imagination. It required many sacrifices—from me and my family, who have been my most significant support throughout this journey. Their selfless love, supervision, and endless motivation made it all possible.

There have been times when I survived on just two hours of sleep a night due to my various commitments. But my dedication and passion for medicine and culture chased me to give 100% to everything I executed and did. I never allowed one aspect of my life to negatively impact the other. As a physician, I care for myself to ensure I don't burn out, but that care never includes taking protracted breaks. During my medical studies, exhaustion sometimes overwhelmed me because medicine is complex. However, unlike most people, I adopted to combat these moments by immersing myself in music, poetry, or simply writing in my diary.

Feeling tired or thwarted sometimes is normal, and maintaining a work-life balance is essential. Music has given me a space to backtrack, recitation has provided an escape, and writing has offered the warmth of a perfect hideaway. I could never imagine a life without the arts or without medicine. Art, culture, and music have been potent restorative sources and shed for renewal throughout my medical career. As a physician, I aim to serve humanity with the maximum effort, spirit, and dedication I have achieved from my background in the world of arts and culture.

This is how I see the harmonious unification of humanity and culture.