蘑菇传媒

Between writing a research paper, minding academic studies, and working clinical rotations, third-year medical student Noah Hoonhout found time to reflect on his pursuit of a career in the medical field. He wrote and submitted an opinion piece, 鈥�,鈥� to the biomedicine Substack , which published his thoughts to an audience of more than 100,000 readers.

In his essay, Hoonhout describes the challenges future physicians face while balancing their personal and professional lives. He writes that as he and his College of Osteopathic Medicine peers seek balance, they may inadvertently tip the scales too far toward 鈥渓ife鈥� and lose sight of the real meaning of 鈥渨ork,鈥� noting that 鈥淚n our efforts to find balance, we stretch our concerns into our priorities.鈥� But self-awareness is Hoonhout鈥檚 strength. He says, 鈥淢edical training will always be a challenge requiring longer hours and more emotional weight than most careers, but what drew so many of us to it was the deep meaning found uniquely in that work.鈥�

He explains that the piece discusses wariness of being taken advantage of or overworked. 鈥淚鈥檝e found the response many of us [medical students] have can tend toward a cynical view, which can close us off to the beautiful parts of patient care,鈥� he says. 鈥淢oral injury and burnout are hot topics in the medical world right now.鈥�

Hoonhout鈥檚 words are not designed to make one second-guess his passion for the field, though. If anything, he hopes to help others consider new ways to think about and appreciate the medical world. As curriculum and daily demands put strain on the day鈥檚 limited hours, he maps out each week to manage his time for studying and working on other things, such as a research paper on the history of the medical field.

鈥淚鈥檝e found it important to reflect on some of the deeper questions in medicine to keep reminding myself of all the good reasons why I entered this field,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 so much in medicine to know, which can be intimidating, but it also can be exciting to think about how much more I can learn.鈥�

With a bachelor鈥檚 degree in history and biochemistry from Hillsdale College in Michigan, narrative medicine鈥攈ealthcare using literary analysis to improve patient care鈥攅xcites Hoonhout as it 鈥渙ffers a different view of the medical field from the ordinary scientific or epidemiological research.鈥� In summer 2024, he traveled to London under the Edward Guiliano Global Fellowship Program to pursue humanities and medicine research. He hopes to publish his findings on how physicians viewed and influenced the medical profession in the 19th century.

In anticipation of a spring 2027 graduation, Hoonhout plans to apply to internal medicine residency programs in the hopes of entering critical care medicine. The opportunity to refine his skills and take on greater responsibility for patient care fuels his excitement to cross the stage on commencement and hooding day.

鈥淚 enjoy medicine because of the challenges and responsibilities that come with caring for patients,鈥� Hoonhout reflects. 鈥淵ou have the opportunity to greatly improve someone鈥檚 life or at least walk with them in their toughest times.鈥�