Medicine in Mind, Healing at Heart: Big Data and Its Limits in Compassionate Care

In 2020, as a 24-year-old MD PhD student studying cardiovascular population health, I suffered a non-ST elevated myocardial infarction while playing basketball. It was confirmed the cause was familial hypercholesterolemia leading to 95%+ occlusions of both the left anterior descending and left circumflex arteries. The following reflective essay describes my experience as a patient grappling with his own mortality and how those experiences have shaped how I now view my purpose as a future physician. The purpose of this essay is to encourage all physicians and physicians in training to practice reflection and to allow themselves to fully experience the pain and suffering of the patients for whom they care, even amidst times of personal uncertainty.