Written by Θάνος Πασχάλης, neurosurgeon.

In medicine and in surgery there is a big analogue with playing for a soccer team.

You start as wanting to play as a striker. You need all the cases of the hospital and think you can blow them all away.

When you start to grow older you are starting to step back and become a midfielder. Experienced, innovative and creative, will be a maestro and organize his/her colleagues and try to convince them that they need to start play some defense.

After many many years, they become the central back! A guy not anymore interested in glamour and that doesn’t want to dazzle people anymore but needs to be solid so as nothing gets into the net.

And finally after years and years they become keepers. They just try to organize the more experienced colleagues, they enjoy conversations with midfielders and they are only being enthusiast about the goals of the strikers and may hug them out in a good move but even in hugging them, they keep an eye open because they know that one goal down means a patient down.

And to learn that you have to start as a striker, get disappointed, go on as a midfielder, enjoy the experience and then become a crucial part of the team.
And to be honest the doctors that start this pyramid as keepers and end as strikers are going to be the ones changing the world.
Cheers