David Watts

Dr. David Watts is incredible. He wears many hats: professor of medicine at UCSF, gastroenterologist, writer, and frequent contributor to NPR. I will remember him as the first person to completely captivate me for almost two hours straight. Dr. Watts delivered a talk on humanism in medicine as the featured speaker for an annual tradition honoring a tragically murdered student at my med school. Faithful follower(s) of this blog- I now have no excuse to let this little window into my life as a med student fall into disrepair.

Keeping one foot in the world of scientific medicine while another foot firmly rooted in literature, he is an example that not only is it possible to achieve balance, but that honest reflection indeed is essential for sanity. I am sorry for taking a year off from this blog- at the very least I need to scribble down more than just my anatomy journal. Dr. Watts is completely correct- no other time in my life will ever compare to the journey I am on now.

Dr. Watts read out powerful vignettes with a quiet eloquence that gave an understanding strength to his message. The patient physician bond does not have to be destructive for either party. Third year medical students do not have to become proficient at emotional wall-building. The unique patient-physician relationship is actually enriching, even rejuvenating. The road I am on is already such a lonely process, I don’t need to wall myself up or tend to the just the science of medicine. This is a human process full of messy human relationships. To sum it all up- “Without science, we are quacks. Sometimes with it, we are still quacks.” –David Watts, MD