Each year , GLMS invites physicians , residents and medical students to take part in the Richard Spear , MD , Memorial Essay Contest . Dr . Spear practiced internal medicine for many years downtown and was famously a reader , beloved by his patients – his gift makes this contest possible .
This year , we asked our members to write on the topic “ If I Weren ’ t A Doctor , I ’ d Be A …” We asked our members to think about what life would be like if they ’ d chosen a career outside of medicine . We received a record number of entries this year , with a wide range of alternate career paths . We received many excellent entries and plan to share several honorable mentions over the next few months . While reading , we hope that these essays give you a glimpse into other facets of the author ’ s personality outside the hospital or clinic walls . Regardless of where an alternative future may have led , many entries centered around a passion for helping others . Please enjoy the two winning essays which , as always , were judged anonymously . You ’ ll be reading more of them as the year progresses !
A few years after my military service and subsequent return to practice , my marriage collapsed . By then my three sons were all old enough for summer camp , so I drove them to North Carolina . The night I returned I went to the Speed Art Museum to hear a lecture on Roman harbors . I picked up a brochure on the dais about a dig in Sicily . I finally had an opportunity to try out my other life .
The next morning , I called the professor and said I could afford my plane fare and any food or other costs . He said , “ I ’ ll take a chance on you .” I should add , the professor and I have been friends all these years since . This trip to Sicily was my first archaeology adventure and success . My sons were in camp the month I was gone .
Practicing medicine was important to me , and it turned out I was pretty good at it . But life has other dimensions , and though I loved working with patients , I was tiring of “ doctail parties .”
On my first excavation in Sicily , my love of history , now coupled with archaeology , was within my reach . After that , I made more trips to Europe and to Middle Eastern countries to work as a grunt on digs .
On a dig in Egypt , I rented a camel to visit the Pyramids of Giza . They put you on a camel , slapped it on the butt , and sent you out into the desert . When I arrived at the biggest pyramid , no one was there , not guards or tourists or anyone . I walked around the pyramid and saw the dark entrance about 50 feet up from the base . So I climbed up the stones . Each stone came up to my waist , and the climb took some time . When I got to the entrance , I went up a wooden ramp and was able to crawl on my hands and knees until I reached the pharaoh ’ s burial chamber . This was a good day because the camel did not run off into the desert and I was alone in the burial chamber of the world ’ s greatest pyramid .
On another trip to Egypt , on a day the archaeologists had not
arrived , I decided to visit the area where many pharaohs were buried . Though nothing was marked for tourists , from my research I had a map of where everything was supposed to be . Following my map , I found the place where I thought King Tut was buried . An opening led to a few steps down but was partially sealed , and there was no light . A guard at the entrance huddled in his robes because of the hot sun . When I tried to go into the tomb , he grunted at me and held up his hand to say I couldn ’ t go in . At the time I still smoked , so I had cigarettes with me . I gave him two Marlboro cigarettes and he motioned me in and pulled a mirror out of his robes . The sun is so bright in Egypt that when it hit the mirror as he angled it for me , it lit up the whole tomb . He let me go in and walk around the sarcophagus of King Tut .
I retired last year after 60 years and six months of listening to hearts . In that time , I participated in 15 years of archaeology digs as a grunt along with the bright 20-year-old Ivy League students deciding what they were fit for . I have excavated at dig sites in Egypt , Sicily , Crete , Italy , and Roman Britain , to name a few . My travels and travails have taken me to the sites of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World . All are in ruins except the Great Pyramid at Giza .
I have loved history since first wandering the halls of that building at the University of Michigan . Being a cardiologist has been extremely rewarding , and I feel as though I have made a difference in patients ’ lives . Luckily , I have still had the chance to explore history and archaeology . If I hadn ’ t been a cardiologist , I would have studied history and archaeology , and spent my summers in digs and in libraries around the world .
Dr . Weiss is a retired cardiologist and Emeritus Professor of Cardiology at the University of Louisville School of Medicine .
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