Why I finally wrote my memoir

For years, friends, former students, colleagues, and even patients would occasionally say, "You ought to write a book." I always smiled, thanked them, and went back to life. Medicine was busy, family came first, and there always seemed to be a more pressing priority.

Retirement changed that.

As I looked back over more than four decades as a physician, I realized that the most valuable lessons had little to do with medical facts. They came from patients whose courage humbled me, mentors who shaped the physician I became, mistakes that taught painful but lasting lessons, and unexpected moments that reminded me why medicine is ultimately a calling rather than simply a profession.

I did not write Making of a Physician to recount a successful career or preserve a list of accomplishments. I wrote it because stories have the power to teach in ways that lectures and textbooks cannot. My hope is that readers—whether they are physicians, students, patients, or simply curious about the human side of medicine—will find themselves in these pages.

The memoir begins long before I wore a white coat. It starts with childhood experiences, family influences, and the unlikely path that eventually led me to medicine. Along the way are moments of humor, uncertainty, triumph, disappointment, and gratitude. Many of the stories are deeply personal, but they are also universal because they explore questions we all face: How do we choose our life's work? Who shapes us? What does it mean to serve others well?

Writing the book also became an opportunity to preserve memories for my children and grandchildren. Every family has stories that disappear unless someone takes the time to write them down. I wanted ours to endure.

If there is one message woven throughout the memoir, it is this: medicine is about far more than diagnosing disease. It is about listening, earning trust, sharing difficult moments, and recognizing the extraordinary resilience of ordinary people.

I hope you'll join me on this journey. In future posts, I'll share some of the stories behind the book, reflections on writing, and a few of the unforgettable patients and mentors who changed my life.