Dance the Polka
“To predict the behavior of ordinary people in advance, you only have to assume that they will always try to escape a disagreeable situation with the smallest possible expenditure of intelligence.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche
“And we should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche
“I would believe only in a God that knows how to dance.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche
“Sometimes you just have to dance the polka to get things done.”
- Kendra Campbell
There are a million reasons why I love psych. Actually, probably over a million. But don’t worry, I’m not going to bore you to tears with all of them. Instead, let me use an example from today to explain.
As I was just walking onto the floors of the hospital to begin my endocrinology rotation today, I heard the sounds of polka coming from one of the halls. Of course, I had to explore this wonderful anomaly, so I hurried down the hall to find the source of the music. What I found was so very, very extraordinary.
I found three nurses and one physical therapist dancing in the hallway with an elderly patient wearing a hospital gown. One of the nurses was holding out her hand, with her cellphone playing some polka tunes. It was definitely a party. I definitely had to join. Without thinking, I jumped right in and started dancing with the crew. We all had entirely too much fun grooving the the music. Afterwards, I found out that the patient was demented and refusing his physical therapy. One of the nurses knew that the patient used to play in a polka band, so she had the incredibly brilliant idea to use polka to draw him out of his room, and onto his feet. It worked beautifully.
There is so much room for creativity in medicine. But sometimes it seems to me that psych might have the most room out of all specialities. And not only that, but understanding how someone’s mind works can help you in any field. This is the stuff that gets me excited. This is the stuff that drew me to medicine in the first place.
Understanding the human (and non-human) mind and behavior has always been a passion of mine. It’s what motivated me to get a degree in psychology. As a psych tech, I put all of my knowledge and education to good use. You want a very delusional patient who doesn’t believe he’s sick to take a psychotropic medication? You HAVE to get creative. You have to understand people. You have to have a desire to understand behavior and motivation. And this is a worthwhile skill in any profession. And yes, this is why I am so excited to be soon starting my residency in psychiatry. I can’t wait to develop more skills, and more understanding. And I love putting those skills and knowledge to good use. And not just in medicine, but in my daily life as well.
Perhaps we would all be a little happier if we took the time to dance the polka with a stranger every once in a while. It certainly worked for me.
Photos: From my “Improv Thanksgiving Dancing Routine” with friends, two years ago.
My name is Kendra and I am a newly minted doctor about to begin my residency in Psychiatry at 
Haha.. this is one crazy post! I mean the pictures are really funny.. I lol’d.
But I agree with you here. We need to ‘inject’ a little bit of a happiness/dancing ‘dose’ into our ‘veins’.. err, I mean our lives, in order to carry on.
Too bad I’m not that type of person, I’m pretty serious, and I rarely dance. You’re like my dad; he must dance daily, and even in public places! He got caught many time dancing!
Anyway, it’s a good thing you’re enjoying it.
Glad you laughed out loud. Because a day spent not laughing is a day wasted.
Sounds like me and your dad would be good friends!
Interesting improv pics. It looks like some sort of Kama Sutra inspired, interpretive, ballet dance. Very…original.
You bring up a lot of good points and I think Nietzsche is one of many forgotten geniuses. I can be obsessive and neurotic and it will be interesting to see how I cope with this personality “flaw” once I being to practice. I look at a demented patient and although I may find methods to deal with their altered mind, I will still look at it as a failure because I didn’t cure the ailment, I only got around it, despite the fact that I realize the situation may have no perfect solution.
I think your post sorta reminds us of that. Even in a field that is based on and besieged within so much science, you have to be creative.
Why do you always leave me the best comments?
Thank you.
So very true. Yes, we “failed” to prevent the dementia. But we “dealt with” it in the best way we could. Perhaps one of the most difficult things about being a doctor is “learning to accept the things we cannot change.”
But I think you really summed it up with your last sentence. Creativity and “ingenuity” are the perfect complement to the sometimes “coldness” of science. ‘Nuff said.
I totally know the photogramapher who took this photos!
Oh thank you for this. Large smile on my face right now..