Think Like A Doctor

Today was our professional event with very special guest speaker Dr. Soldinger, Phi Delta Epsilon’s International President. For anyone who missed it, here is a recap of the questions and answers:

Questions:
1. What is your occupation?
2. Why are you a doctor?
3. What school did you go to and how many years have you been in the field?
4. What’s your specialty?
5. What’s your favorite memory?
6. How do you balance work and family time?
7. Would you become a doctor all over again knowing what you know now?
8. What’s the most difficult part of being a doctor?
9. What other career ideas did you have other than medicine?
10. What is your dream practice?

Answers
1. I am a psychiatrist.
2. I was interested in psychology in college and decided to become a psych major at UCLA. At first I thought I was going to go into ob/gyn or be an internist but didn’t really enjoy those fields so then I looked into neurology. I liked doing PET scans and MRI scans but I wanted something more people oriented so I decided to go with Psychiatry.
3. I graduated from UCLA and UCI medical school, did internship at USC and residency at UCLA. I’ve also been in private practice in Sherman Oaks since 1983 and have written books, consulted celebrities and have taught private practice.
4. My specialty is Psychiatry.
5. My favorite memory as a doctor is when I helped a celebrity because it’s an awesome feeling to help someone that’s in the public eye and knowing that I did that, I helped him. 
6. I try to go to family events and to football games for fun but it’s hard to balance everything out. After screwing up so many times and saying lots of “I’m sorrys”, eventually you just find a natural balance between work and family that works for you.
7. I would definitely become a doctor all over again knowing what I know now. 
8. The most difficult parts about being a doctor are the patients, doctors, and colleagues that are against you and being a doctor you’re a target and being sued is very common.
9. A couple other career plans I had was becoming a politician or going to Australia to produce tv shows.
10. I’m living it! My practice is perfect because it combines PhiDE, education, fun, people, and so much more.