There are certain levels of respect and admiration that I've developed recently over the last year for particular groups of people. For example, as i've gotten to know some doctors through medical school and see their seemingly limitless hard work and genuine compassion for their patients, I've grown to really appreciate and respect the medical profession. Some doctors who are 20-30 years well into their career continue to work 50-60 hour work weeks, plowing through intense work because they know that they can directly influence the outcome of their patients' lives.
However, my respect for my future colleagues is not unshared; it is probably safe to say that the medical profession is generally well received by the public, and that there is generally a high regard.and esteem for physicians. I mention this because physicians are typically given much spotlight time for the work they do and the lives of individuals they've helped. In contrast, I feel like there are so many other jobs and causes that I've learned about that have also earned my respect, but remain generally hidden or unnoticed most of the time.
My top 3 of-the-moment unsung heroes that I will mention are 1) social workers, 2) non-profit workers, and 3) church leaders.
1) so, my exposure to this has mostly been in the realm of medical care, so i will talk about this in that context. while doctors help figure out what's wrong with someone's health and prescribe drugs or therapies to help with their condition, social workers work out the logistics of how this actually gets executed in that particular patient's life. they take into social factors like financial considerations, family situations, support systems, etc. Basically, social workers help that patient follow doctors' recommendations in view of all the other factors in that person's life, including any barriers to following through as the good, compliant patient that every doctor loves. And my thought is that the amount of time each social worker spends with that person exceeds the time that doctors spend with them. Also, doctors make substantially more money than social workers. Thus, social workers are awesome and i have lots of respect for all the good work they put out.
2) similar to social workers, non-profit employees typically work for good causes but don't really get recognized for it. non-profits are typically understaffed, and underfunded, with there always being more things that could be done in line with the non-profit's missional objectives. for example, one particular non-profit that i've learned about recently in more detail is the hope clinic (
http://www.thehopeclinic.org/), which is a Christian clinic that offers free medical care to those who need it. one of my friends from church started working for them pseudo full time (techincally supposed to be 30 hrs a week, but actually probably more like 50-60), and not as a doctor, but as administrative staff. She basically lobbies for patients, including hours calling pharmaceutical companies to increase coverage for a particular patient's drug needs or donate the drugs for free. Yea, hardcore, and another unsung hero. I know many other non-profit employees have similar cultures, so my respect goes out to you.
3) church leaders. so, on the drive home from a church conference back in june, i was talking to a couple of the student leaders and we were just getting to know each other and stuff, and i was sharing about how i took off a year before starting med school to do missions abroad. the student leaders responded with something along the lines of dang, that's awesome and how come our church doesn't have more people doing that? but honestly, i feel like people who serve years in and years out with a commitment to a church, and pouring out their lives to invest in those in that community is so much harder and worthy. my respect goes out to these guys, especially the recent graduates, who've stuck around in spite of not necessarily having the best job, or any job at all, for the sake of the church and believing in its vision. seriously, sticking around extra years to serve the church and the body even against pressure from the world and even parents to move on to other things like advancing their career or settling down and getting married or something like that. yea, church leaders, unsung heroes for sure. thanks for your commitment to the gospel and to God. press on. your work is surely not in vain.
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