Artist's Statement: Which Doctor Shall I Be Today?

Abstract

As doctors, we often operate under the impression that we can cleanly partition who we are into convenient segments. Our role in academia may even require that we do so in the name of maintaining “resilience” or others’ “comfort.” Which “me” shall I be today? The mom. The doctor. The immigrant. The American. I choose the identity I display like I browse apps on my phone with a finger swipe—depending on the day’s schedule, my mood, or someone else’s expectations of what a doctor should look or sound like. But my reality is intersectional. Whether I am intubating a patient, getting a mammography, teaching clinical skills, reading a bedtime story, helping Mami and her doctor communicate, or analyzing data, I never stop being a doctor—just like I never stop being a parent, a daughter, bilingual, or Hispanic. Some of my identities have felt less welcome than others in academic spaces. Yet, academic medicine would be better if we unapologetically celebrated the totality of each of us. I painted Which Doctor Shall I Be Today? (on the cover of this issue) using digital art software on a tablet. The composition’s comic-like approach with minimal details, bright colors, and bold outlines highlights that my depicted personal and professional experiences arise from the unique intersection of my memory and imagination. By attending to the identities and lived experiences of others—as they choose to define them—we can make ourselves as doctors and, by extension, our academic work, more empathic and authentic.Which Doctor Shall I Be Today?