Hooked on Primary Care with Karim Hanna, MD
My parents were teachers, who, for the years of my upbringing, taught me to serve through their work. They desired the difficult student’s success, sometimes more than the student did. They sought out means to pull and push them, to progress and to grow.
Entering my third year of medical school, I was not sure I was going to be a family medicine doctor. However, at the start of my clerkship year, I worked with an attending who inspired me to pursue this path. I saw how he carried himself with his patients and I witnessed the fruitful relationships he developed over his 25-year career. I shared in tears and many smiles. I experienced serving those in need locally and abroad. He was a part of their family.
I found a commonality in this work and what my parents exemplified. Service was at its depth. Yes, all physicians can serve, but the track to family medicine was filled with washing the feet of those who came into clinic. The sickest, the struggling and the hurt all would show up to family medicine first. The frontline of medical care meets these patients, and then can push them and pull them to healing.
As my third year continued, I enjoyed connecting with patients and spent much time at the bedside. Whether it was an 8-year-old with leukemia, or a 72-year-old with colon cancer, I found myself looking for conversation, and looking to instill hope. Hope, I find, is the currency of the physician. Not that superficial “you’re going to be fine” type, but the sincere “I am here with you” compassionate type. I found I could give this out even as a medical student, and I found myself pulled to those in need.
The variety also stood out. I did not want to pick just one of my clerkship experiences to be tied to. The capacity to deal with patients coming in from all walks of life, with all sorts of issues, with a wide array of stories, pulled me in the direction of family medicine. I wanted to be able to work in an emergency room, in the hospital, on the mission field and in a clinic. I wanted to be able to do preventive care, acute care, procedural care and chronic care. This adaptability won me over.
There is something special about sharing in the memories of your patients. Celebrating the birth of a new baby or mourning the end of life. I work to show patients my love, reminding them that I am part of their family, often caring for multiple generations. This life has allowed me into the homes of my patients for solemn visits, even days before their death. It is a role that can be burdensome and a role that can be tiring, but I continue to seek a life of giving as that is a life of value.
Karim Hanna, MD
Assistant professor, department of family medicine
University of South Florida