His calling is to study medicine out of conviction and not for money.
Dr. Julio Rodríguez, neurologist and stroke specialist. Photo: Provided by the Mennonite Health System to the Journal of Medicine and Public Health.
The Dr. A.S. Julius Rodriguez, neurologist y stroke specialists He was the first in his family to become a doctor, and following 15 years practicing his profession, he encourages more young people to study medicine, but with a humanistic approach and vocation.
“Vocation is fundamental, if you don’t like what you do, then you mightn’t live peacefully in the face of the sacrifice that it implies. The vocation is the one that hits you at the worst moment, gives you the desire to arrive and give your best”, he explained.
It is a good profession for remuneration, he said, but here the work requires sacrifice and dedication. “I would tell young people not to study this career for money, but for vocation, for humanity and for serving people and their families,”
In the case of the specialty of stroke, the specialist indicated that in emergency neurology, patients and relatives must be cared for 24/7. “You can’t think regarding money, those of us who do it with passion, desire and understand that sacrifice and commitment are part of the job.”
He fondly recalled his first steps in medicine, and the impact his parents’ support had on him, and the experience of seeing his maternal grandmother with ischemic attacks.
“From the beginning my parents supported me a lot, because the medical career is long. In my particular case, I do not have medical relatives, I did have several relatives who were nurses, but not with doctors”, he recounted.
He was guided by neurology during his studies in South Florida, in Tampa, where he had supervising teachers specialized in stroke, who influenced his studies, as well as his own experience at home.
“Since middle school I had an inclination for medicine, and in college I decided on stroke, because my maternal grandmother had transient ischemic attacks, at that time I was not a doctor yet and I did not know what that was,” he said. .
One of the most difficult moments was experienced by him and his companions when the husband of one of them suffered a brain aneurysm. Situation that led them to live hard moments in support of his partner, but also because of the professional challenge.
“I had a colleague whose husband gave him a brain aneurysm, and having that situation where that person almost lost his life was very difficult as colleagues. However, she did very well, thank God. If anything, it was an experience that marked the entire group,” she said.
Finally, he stressed that no day is the same in his professional practice, and that although he has been able to learn to manage tense moments, he remembers that the first encounters with stroke emergencies were quite a challenge.
“Sometimes the situation is so tense that one must be prepared to be objective with the relatives and the patient. That separates us a bit from other professionals, what happens is that the stroke changes life in minutes. In this context, all these challenges, during these 15 years, one is fine-tuning how one behaves in the face of these emergencies. At first those first encounters are very challenging”, he concluded.
