The audience listens to Dr Dave Gerrard's University of
Otago graduation address at the Regent Theatre on Saturday.
Photo by Jane Dawber.
The influence of popular television dramas such as
Grey's Anatomy in launching medical careers and the need
to avoid perfectionism were highlighted at University of Otago
graduation ceremonies at the weekend.
The university held two ceremonies, at 1pm and 4pm, at the
Regent Theatre on Saturday instead of the usual single
ceremony at the larger Dunedin Town Hall, because of
redevelopment work there.
Otago University development and alumni relations director Dr
Dave Gerrard told about 250 medical and medical laboratory
science graduates at the first ceremony that, in an Otago
medical class in 1973, he had been asked to nominate the
medical scientists who had most influenced his choice of
career.
Dr Gerrard, who is a
sports medicine specialist and former Olympic Games swimming
representative, had dutifully listed Sir Alexander Fleming,
the discoverer of penicillin, and several other leading
researchers.
Dr Gerrard recently repeated the exercise by asking a small
group of Otago first-year health science students to name the
greatest influences on their career choice, and had been
surprised to be told House, MD, Grey's Anatomy and
ER were, for current health science students, the
"most influential determinants of career pathway".
Enlightened by this research, Dr Gerrard had since become "an
unashamed, passionate devotee of House, watching 12
episodes in succession on a recent long-haul flight.
About 260 dentistry
and physiotherapy graduates were warned about the dangers of
perfectionism and overthinking at the second ceremony by
School of Dentistry associate dean for research Prof Jules
Kieser. In his address he encouraged graduates, now they were
clinicians, "not to overthink and not to overanalyse".
"Every treatment plan, whether you're a dental technician,
dental therapist, physiotherapist or dentist, has certain
limits. Our goal as clinicians is to perform excellent
procedures rather than perfect ones."
"Commit yourselves to excellence but never to perfection. Too
often we aspire to be perfect and we get bogged down in the
downward spiral of destructive thinking."
"Too often we aspire to be perfect, in our work and our
relationships and our assignments and our theses, and instead
of enjoying the journey, we actually go nowhere.
"There is a war between thinking and action, and thinking is
the enemy. Thinking can freeze us into inaction."
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