My Role model Dr. Chung

 

Recently, I met Dr. Chung Yunhee at her office in the vast populated area, Flushing. Dr. Chung is a very experienced physician who practices in hematology and oncology, and I was lucky enough to interview her prior to our past conversations at the KAPIPA gala ceremony. As soon as I stepped inside her office, I felt a sense of fresh air and there was an aroma of clean furniture, somewhat described as “home.” Right away, I felt very welcomed. I saw Dr. Chung coming out of her office and she politely asked me and gave me two choices: to wait for some minutes until she is done with taking care of her patients, or to interview through the phone some other day. It was easy for me to answer her question and decide, contrary to my usual indecisive self; I chose to stay and wait, and sat down on a chair in front of her office. This made me feel a little excited, to be honest, as I had another chance to peek at what she did as a doctor, especially in her office.

 

I always thought the office was a “resting place” for doctors and the hospital having the busy atmosphere but in fact, it was the opposite. The office was filled with papers and work and it was rather very close-spaced. Dr. Chung was taking care of her patients with sincere and compassion. She was asking questions and typing some things on her computer. Everything seemed complicated to me but when I saw her it seemed so professional. It was like watching that one scene from a movie or a tv show where the doctor works so hard but in a cool and fashionable way. Dr. Chung became the new Hollywood celebrity in my eyes. She was multi-tasking, her eyes moving from the patient to the keyboard, but still paying very close attention to the patient and their words.

 

 

 

After she finished taking care of her patients, it was time for the interview. I stepped inside the office again, and sat down on a different chair. The room was bright from the lights and brought positivity across the area. It expressed a symbol of support and hope. Because I knew Dr. Chung was busy - which was evident based on her professionalism and her profession in general - I summed the questions to four only. But they were four good ones that I had a lot of curiosity on.

 

My first question was: What led you to your profession?

 

Letting out a small laugh, she answered, “Actually it was my mom who led me into the medicine field. Back in Korea, we were not financially secure - as most others were in our age group - so the other interests or passions that I had as a kid would be challenging to face in the real world. Those things weren’t popular enough with money since Korea back then was poor. Therefore, my mom influenced me that becoming a doctor would be a better choice.”

 

It was true, Korea or really any other country back then was not in its best state of being, like it is now, and in my knowledge it was rare to find people like Dr. Chung to stand up and face reality and accomplishing great goals.

 

“My mother’s brother was also a doctor,” she says, “so I was thinking about it and came to the conclusion that I would be able to support the family if I did become a doctor. For this reason, financially secure was one thing and supporting other people was also another factor I thought about. We have such a pride for helping others and it became a passionate duty for me as a doctor to give support and hope to my patients.”

 

I didn’t find this surprising as I could tell from her actions towards her patients that she deeply cares about them a lot and shines a light of hope on them.

 

 

 

My second question was better and required a little more thought: What is the toughest thing about your job?

 

Dr. Chung first states, “Well, when patients complain it becomes a little tough,” then she says, “but the most difficult part is when there is a disease that we can’t treat or cure and we have to try and do the best we can. If the patient doesn’t get any better, it becomes a very tough situation. For instance, what to say, dealing with the family, and most of all dealing with the patient. This is probably the most challenging part, not only for me, but for many other doctors as well.”

 

It is almost too sad to be true but what she said was completely right. Even when doctors try their best, it is not always their fault when something goes wrong and sending the sad news must be a very hard and brave thing to do, in my view.

 

This led me to my third question: How do you overcome your obstacles and challenges in life?

 

Letting out a sigh, that almost sounded like she was letting out all the past complications she dealt with, Dr. Chung responded, “Well, initially when you are young, you try to avoid those problems right? But that’s not going to solve the problem. Eventually, you learn year by year from your experience and when your mind says ‘let’s face it’ you try. But if you can’t, even though you do the best thing you can, that’s okay because you’re still trying your best. The best thing is to do things one by one; I mean you’re a human being - you can’t be perfect. When you have trouble and there’s nothing much you can do, still try the best that you can do and afterwards you will feel satisfied.”

 

This sounded very inspiring as it relates to many human lives, especially teenagers, including me. I knew I wouldn’t leave her office without getting some life lessons.

 

 

 

“Also, when there happens to be a feeling of depression while facing a challenge, you will get to see the people who have much less than what you have. For me, I see the patients and I see that they are in a much worst condition that I am in and I should be happy for what I have. This way, you can help other people and talk about other things but most importantly, you have to feel great for what you have. That’s how you deal with challenges. I mean life is tough, right?”

 

It sure is Dr. Chung and I - as a fourteen year old - can already feel the rock bottom in life.

 

“But when the time comes, you will be able to realize that there are people around you who are wishing to be where you are now. There are people in war zones in the Middle East who don’t have any place to even sleep and people in Africa who’s going through severe starvation. But think about how lucky and luxurious we are, and by then we can’t complain. Whatever you have is like heaven compared to what they have.”

 

I continuously made head nods and had to, since it was all so true and agreeable. This made me feel really lucky as I was able to get these amazing life lessons from Dr. Chung. I was also lucky simply for breathing after hearing her words of wisdom. I had a sudden feeling of guilt inside of me once I thought about all my past complaints on little things that would be nothing compared to other people who are struggling to live.

 

 

To wrap our interview up, I had to ask this last, strong question, even though I could already tell what her answer would be according to her responses in the first three questions. I asked her, what is your definition of success?

 

Dr. Chung looks at me and responds in a polite tone, “I would say that when you feel like you did the best you could in life - like when you are not starving, you are not depending on other people, and when you have some space to help other people - then I would say that you are successful. You cannot have everything but if you have a room in your heart to help other people, that’s where true success comes from. I think that comes from your mind because otherwise you would just be busy with earning something for your own position.”

 

Wow, I thought to myself. I was in extreme awe and couldn’t have heard anything better than the definition that she stated. I thought how great it would be if her opinion-based definition could actually be printed on the dictionary next to the word success. In fact, I went home and searched up the definition of success, which surprisingly, I never did since it was a word heard often and a word that everyone just naturally knows. The real definition of success in the dictionary states, “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.” I always thought of success in this way too, but as soon as I thought of Dr. Chung’s words, I paid more close attention to what she said and slowly drifted upon her definition.

 

The day of interviewing Dr. Chung has sadly passed but I was glad for having the chance to ask the four questions I wanted to ask her as a doctor, and as a human herself. The answers were amazingly put and the life lessons/advices I received remained and will continue to remain in my memory.

 

Dr. Chung officially became my new role model.

 

 

 

I went to interview Dr. Chung at her office and felt very happy when I saw my artwork up on the wall.

 

Dr. Chung also put up my artworks at each of the patient's rooms. I felt very thankful towards her when I saw them and I also felt thankful for the fact that she politely answered my questions during the interview