Currently I am enjoying the beaches at the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic to be specific. During this  pandemic, having some me time far away from home, I can finally settle down to what I usually am – a well balanced person. My job as a medical doctor has stressed me out over the last two years, dealing with patient’s problems my mind could not leave behind for that time, but hey, whom am I telling this, right?

I need to focus again, on what is so important to me being a MD, I need to remember how I started in medicine, commencing as a civil servant, being at the age of 18/19, taking care of people on the wards in internal medicine. When I started I had no clue what to expect, no one in my family had ever worked in medicine professionally. As I got more and more into the whole subject, not just the nursing part, also the doctor‘s part, everything seemed to be pretty much fun to me –  challenge career-wise accepted? Not at all, not at the beginning, obviously I did not match the uni requirements for Medical Faculty. After a detour, finding an alternative way into Medical Faculty, I was finally there where I wanted to be, still, a long road to go though! One year after another, for 6,5 years, additionally working part-time, I was wondering, when does it ever end? That very last day, reciting the Oath of Hippocrates and getting the diploma, has been the most important event in my life! That long journey had finally come to an end, besides the following residency and doctorate, but I was definitely relieved.

In 2021, after 20 years of working in medicine, I still think it was worth going the long way, especially because I was told by the system  I cannot study medicine just as my grades were not good enough. I proved them all to be wrong! It may sound pathetic, but do not accept everything what you are told by some random people. Working hard and not evading the long way is the key to success and makes the change, leading you into a better future.

So for now I enjoy slowing down in my adult-only all-inclusive 5* Resort – waking up without having set an alarm, breakfast, resting in my room, putting sunscreen on, pool/ beach time with cocktails, dinner which includes fine art cuisine topped with funny and sophisticated decorations… followed by Netflix and chill. In two weeks I am back in Berlin, back to work that in the end I actually like a lot, but I will also think about what trip comes next, another big topic in my life, traveling, but that is another story. I need little breaks from time to time – #firstworldproblems.

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