Becoming a Surgeon: a Profession or a Mission | Valentin Calu | TEDxCambridgeSchoolofBucharest

[Music] good evening I didn't know I was so important until I heard you uh usually I do hopefully I do I don't know what you learned today but I learned a lot from the previous speakers but I have to convince you that I have the most beautiful profession on earth is to be a surgeon why my a lot of titles a lot of work a lot of study a lot of exams a lot of everything my story started very early when I was 4 in the kindergarten they organized the game one kid got to be the doctor for the teddy bears of the other kids and I was selected my teacher thought that I'm very appropriate for this job and I was very happy that day and very sad the other day when I was not selected anymore and this was my journey until 2030 everything was going up I was in the high school young skinny much I was killing that time yes hoping and dreaming to be a doctor I was in a med school hoping and dreaming to become a surgeon I was a surgical resident and this is my first surgical procedure I was attending classes going to courses and then I got to be the teacher teaching others how to operate but still studying as I told you everything was going up until it went down three years ago during organ harvesting mission for transplantation it was a tragic accident a plane crash which was covered by all the Romanian media at that time in the episode montant we were seven and mode two died the pilot and a young female medical student a volunteer at the mission five other passengers were severely injured including me I had everything and in one instant I had nothing no health broken ribs no future no nothing it was the toughest and the most precious lesson of my life I spent two weeks in the hospital as a patient it's very difficult to be a patient and two months of recovery I was thinking that when you are addressing to God you have to be very specific God is a very busy entity you cannot say I would like to stay in bed for two months and read books now you have to be specific I would like to stay in bed for two months without 12 broken ribs and read books you have to be specific be specific it's important I didn't take those pictures of course the plane the happy moment when where we were rescued from the mountains the happier moment when I left the hospital and the happiest day of my life coming back to the hospital and being a surgeon again and the story continued and it's not over yet hopefully the question is will I take the same road again and the answer is yes why because I have always wanted to be a surgeon what for because I love being a surgeon for how long as long as I can be a surgeon there are so many questions wherever for you only one answer I am a surgeon this is a joke was sent to me by one of my residents why surgery is such a great career training is fun you will never forget your training it's a very safe job the pay is not bad your mother will be proud of you I'm I'm very sure that my mother is very proud of me surgeons have panache surgical personality and is also a culture of surgery you'll have your heroes your teachers but you from time to time you will be the hero if you like to be the hero this is the job to do it there is spirituality if you want it because every day you get in touch with people their mind they're paying their desire to stay alive there is spirituality if you want it you will change patients lives remember change do not terminate patients lives change and patients will change your life or simply you're a sadistic sob and you just love to cut but this was a joke how it is actually to be a surgeon you will work hard you will endure tough people until you will become one this is like that song from Guns N'Roses endless nights endless days and sleepless nights I remember you I don't have the voice you will have endless days you have sleepless nights one day you will be on the top of the world and the other day you will lose a patient and you will be swimming in the ocean of sorrow you're not God remember you're just the instrument of God because sometimes your ego is he oh you're so strong you're holding someone's liver in your hands you must be God you're not God you'll sacrifice a lot but remember the talk about the Aconcagua don't sacrifice too much every mistake you do could mean the loss of a human life and you will be and you have to be mad about yourself because you're not good enough every day you'll do something else and you'll never be bored in your life this is it can be a profession it can be a mission if you want to be a mission you must have the calling the calling for it the calling the calling to teach to heal to preach to implement law to be an actor you need the calling if you have the calling you will fill it with every fiber in your body but be very honest brutally honest with yourself if you don't feel it you don't have it or you're not in touch with your inner self and if you don't feel it meditate upon it and listen to your soul listen what your soul tells you to do follow it and most important don't let anyone or anything to stop you or to tell you something else and now the tough questions for such a young audience it's my first time that I'm addressing to such young audience it's a good exercise for me a few years from now when I will address my children what do you want from your future no let's start forget this life who wants to be a doctor in the room raise your hands please smart kid I'll be waiting for you what do you want from your life what do you want from your future you want wealth you want power social recognition influence love family health all this is a code from Oprah Oprah Winfrey you can have it all you just can't have it all at once it's very important to know what do you want because everything can be important you don't have to be a great surgeon you can be a regular surgeon and doing just a profession this is deeper if you can answer those questions you will know yourself and this is the beginning of all wisdom every child wants to know what is the path what is your path do you know what your path is are you dreaming or something but do you know what do you want to become do you know what is good for you do you know what you deserve do you know what your skills are do you know what you need and in the end do you know who you are seek for the answers to these questions before choosing a career choose wisely visualize your future job ask around old guys like me about your future profession and prepare to put a lot of effort don't settle for mediocrity dream big work hard and never give up because if you will choose a job you love you will never have to work a day in your life thank you for having me ah you [Music]

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 154,591

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, Romania, Life, Motivation

Id: vqEoQ9_c6rc

Length: 12min 27sec (747 seconds)

Published: Wed May 10 2017