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Partha Kar: Is being a doctor a vocation?

BMJ 2020; 368 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m227 (Published 03 March 2020) Cite this as: BMJ 2020;368:m227
  1. Partha Kar, consultant in diabetes and endocrinology
  1. Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust
  1. drparthakar{at}gmail.com
    Follow Partha on Twitter: @parthaskar

Is there some sort of higher calling to join the medical profession, or is it simply a highly skilled job? This age old debate generates more heat than light, and it’s not clear why the two need to be mutually exclusive.

Did some form of vision appear to me and drive me to be a doctor? No—I grew up in a family of doctors, in the heart of Kolkata, before the economic boom. My choice was pretty much made for me by my parents: I can’t think of a time when I didn’t want to be a doctor or thought of a different career. In the hubbub of Kolkata the job came …

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