New Yorker left the entertainment industry to become a doctor after 9/11 – WBAY

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) – Even though it was the 20th anniversary of 9/11 yesterday, the days after the tragedy were just as life changing to some Americans.

One New Yorker left the entertainment industry to become a doctor in Wisconsin after what she saw at the World Trade Center.

“It was a transformative and highly traumatizing time for me,” Dr. Lisa Arkin, a pediatric dermatologist at UW Health, shared.

Dr. Arkin was living in New York City and working in Showtime’s creative development department during 9/11. She helped writers craft their stories for the big screen.

“If you had asked me my top 100 things I was going to do after college, I think being a doctor would have been like 105 or below,” Dr. Arkin said.

However, volunteering at St. Vincent’s Hospital, what would later become the closest Level 1 trama center to the World Trade Center, changed her mind.

The week after 9/11, Dr. Arkin spent hours volunteering with the hospital’s matching program. She spoke with countless family members and friends who were trying to find their loved ones who had been in or near the Twin Towers. Almost 3,000 lives were lost in the New York City destruction.

“That was my, if only I had been a doctor I could have somehow been more helpful,” Dr. Arkin remembered. “Of course, none of the physicians there could help either. It was such a powerless time.”

In the months that followed, Dr. Arkin would make a life changing decision. She decided to become a doctor.

That choice would require her to go back to school and take pre-medical classes like organic chemistry and physics. Plus, go on to medical school, residency, and a fellowship.

One of her writers told her she was making a mistake.

“When you become a doctor, you’re going to be able to lay hands only on the people you can physically touch,” Dr. Arkin recollected in conversation with her writer. “But, you work in broadcasting! Your whole job is to touch thousands of people through storytelling at once. You’re making more of a difference than you think you are. In retrospect, I think she was right. But, I didn’t feel it.”

Being able to help thousands through her dermatological research makes her work even more impactful.

“We can do anything we set our minds to,” Dr. Arkin emphasized. “You just have to be inspired to be brave enough to make a choice.”

Copyright 2021 WBAY. All rights reserved.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/3z60s4c
via IFTTT