Those Who Can, Do; Those Who Can’t, Teach?

Aaron Singh -- Teachers. We all have them, we all know them, and sometimes we all spend class time daydreaming of creative ways to kill them horribly. But like ‘em or not, teachers are a lifelong part of medical teaching. From the sadistic professor grinning evilly on your first day at med school to the slightly more senior professor who actually helps, teachers play a big part in medicine because of medicine’s very nature as a profession where learning is lifelong.

And so it should come as no surprise that many of us medics choose to do some teaching in our lifetimes. All doctors do some teaching and guiding in their careers, of course, but not everyone likes it; some choose to give vent to childhood nightmares, leading to tales of horror (such as those sometimes heard on this blog), and some become like those subatomic particles you hear about in quantum physics: they exist only theoretically. But still others like it so much that they choose to make careers out of it; they go into academia, teach doctors, do research, and are often inspiring enough to spur many other students on to greatness. We’ve all encountered one of those teachers, as I said in a previous post.

But only recently did I see that there was a difference in attitude towards teaching in medicine. Studying at a research university in a country where academia is respected and even rewarded, I had been taught that academia is a respectable profession, no less desirable than surgery or internal medicine or any other medical specialty. I enjoy teaching*, and had been seriously considering a full-time career in academia, far off though that choice may be. But while I was back in Malaysia for the summer, I asked some of my fellow medics what they thought of it, and first I got silence. Then some of them actually started laughing.

“What, don’t you have enough stress already?”

“What are you gonna live on for the rest of your life, peanuts?”

Then they all laughed heartily, slapped me on the back right as I was swallowing, and admitted none of them knew the Heimlich Manoeuvre as I sat there gagging.

But they’re not alone. In many countries, academics are seen as weaker versions of the professionals they help to teach. If you’re in a teaching job, it’s automatically assumed that you’re there because you couldn’t land any other job. Whereas in Western countries, academia is seen as a proper profession, even venerated, and thankfully a trend towards this is being seen in more and more developing countries (Malaysia included) as they realise the importance of research. I actually spent some time as a part-time teacher helping out in my old school, and I enjoyed the experience thoroughly. I’m definitely going to spend some time teaching in my career too.

*And no, not just because I want to pass on all the slaps, kicks and textbooks thrown at me by my supervisors, okay.**

**Okay maybe just a few kicks. Okay knuckle raps only, I promise!