{"id":5896,"date":"2026-05-26T02:28:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T02:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jugular.org.au\/?p=5896"},"modified":"2026-05-26T02:49:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T02:49:24","slug":"medicine-is-not-my-entire-personality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jugular.org.au\/index.php\/2026\/05\/26\/medicine-is-not-my-entire-personality\/","title":{"rendered":"Medicine is NOT my entire personality"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>7 Minute, 29 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n

Fazila Olaniyan ed. Anthony Foong<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to just identify as a doctor, I want to identify as ME.\u201d I\u2019m sure many of us may have seen this consensus being reached by upcoming medical influencers and public speakers, where doctors are beginning to reclaim their identities beyond just medicine. After all, the idea of sacrificing our entire lives just to save our patients, while noble, is no longer seen as ideal, moving into a world cognizant of mental health and physician burnout. I believe Evan Diego, a Y3 med student, summarised this perfectly: \u201cI don\u2019t want to sacrifice my whole identity just to become a doctor, and I think that\u2019s an important dogma to keep throughout our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


I don\u2019t think it is too controversial to say that a lot of us have already sacrificed so much just to get into medicine, and it starts to feel like that\u2019s the only way to live. Especially through our teenage years, where we slowly push away more and more of our hobbies and personal enjoyments just to attend extra tuition classes, squeeze in another hour or two of studying, and chase the perfect ATAR, UCAT score, or straight As. And even after getting into med, the anxiety and pressure to not waste all this effort don\u2019t simply disappear. But as Subha, a Y2 med student, said: \u201cI realized it\u2019s never going to get any easier. Y3 is going to be harder, and then we\u2019ll start placements and residency, and I can\u2019t just keep waiting to be done with things to live my life. I just have to start doing what I want to do now.\u201d And honestly, I think I agree with her. So I went looking for some role models in med who haven\u2019t let medicine stop them from pursuing their hobbies and living their best lives while also being the best Med students they can be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We have Med’s very own 3rd Dan black belt karate sensei \u2014 Rasleen! Having started karate at just 6 years old, she\u2019s never let academic pressure stop her from training, even continuing twice-a-week sessions throughout high school before moving to Sydney. That consistency is what allowed her to become so proficient at such a young age. When she arrived in Sydney, she struggled to find a dojo that matched her vibe, so instead, she decided to start her own \u2014 while still being a Year 1 Med student. Honestly, you could call her a star, because this eventually led to her winning the UNSW Y1 Star Award, especially since her classes became part of the Arc SHE CAN UNSW programme, meaning you can now literally find her classes on campus.
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Her love for karate even led her to leave SH in Week 6 to head to Japan, where she was invited by the head of the Oceania Dentokan Karate Seminar to train with a senior grandmaster of karate.

To Rasleen, karate is as much an art form as it is physical. For example, while learning kata (\u5f62), you immerse yourself in a series of movements almost like a recital, but truly understanding the purpose behind every strike and kick is what takes it to another level. It requires immense patience, discipline, and focus, and Rasleen has challenged herself even further by planning lessons \u2014 with guidance from her sensei in New Zealand \u2014 for other women at UNSW. As intimidating as the commitment initially felt, she decided it would be worth it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rasleen articulates that it\u2019s especially important to choose an interest you genuinely care about and commit to it fully. Having too many commitments can become overwhelming, which is why she believes hobbies are so important, not just to learn time management, but also to express yourself through something beyond medicine instead of simply doom-scrolling IG Reels all day. (Although, to be fair, she admits she still does that too\u2026 just a little less now.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Rasleen\u2019s advice to anyone looking to pursue a hobby is simple: figure out what you truly want to do, rather than doing things just for the sake of it. And also \u2014 check out her T2 karate lessons on the Arc SHE CAN website. She\u2019d genuinely love to have more Med students join!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Next up, we have Evan Diego, who I mentioned earlier. As a Y3 student swamped with placements, in-person lectures, and back-to-back tutorials, he\u2019s somehow still found time to train for and complete the HOKA Half Marathon, which he decided to direct the cause to the Sydney Children\u2019s Hospital and raised close to $700 for their charity. What began as a New Year\u2019s resolution quickly became an integral part of his social life in med, especially since running seems to have become a bit of a global Med student fad recently. To stop himself from quitting halfway, he talks about the Atomic Habits idea of a \u201ccommitment device,\u201d where a one-time choice made in the present controls your future behaviour. For him, that was paying the marathon fee. But beyond that, he\u2019s also discovered some picturesque running routes that genuinely make him look forward to every run, and he decided to share some of them with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Evan Diego\u2019s Top 3 Running Routes:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Sydney Olympic Cycleway<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Randwick to Clovelly \u2014 although the uphill run back can get pretty brutal, it\u2019s great for marathon training<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Darling Harbour to Circular Quay \u2014 his personal favourite, especially at sunset, where you might just bump into him and a whole crowd of runners motivating each other to keep going<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    And Evan\u2019s advice to anyone wanting to start something new is to remember that it\u2019s taken people a long time to get to where they are. Even the people you admire are still struggling with their own goals, so just keep showing up and you\u2019ll eventually get there too. It\u2019s not a race, it\u2019s a marathon :).

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    Last but definitely not least, we have Summer and Deanna, and their love for fishing. Their dedication to fishing has them waking up even earlier than our 9am lectures just to get to prime fishing spots by 8am, which honestly sounds insane to me. Deanna had already been regularly fishing with her family since she was around 7 years old. Later on, she had introduced Summer to fishing for the very first time in Port Macquarie, where he soon fell in love with the adrenaline rush of a fish biting the bait. (Although I was personally shocked Summer had never fished before this because\u2026 isn\u2019t fishing basically Canada\u2019s national pastime?) Because honestly, what better way is there to spend a relaxing day in nature than fishing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Summer and Deanna have discovered some pretty great fishing spots too, including La Perouse, Harbour Bridge (their go-to for people chasing huge fish), and Drummoyne, which is apparently a prime fishing suburb in NSW.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Their 3-Step Guide to Fishing:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    1. Gather your essentials: rod, line, hook, and bait<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Find a chill spot where you hopefully won\u2019t get arrested (apparently you also need a fishing license, which you can buy online)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Cast!!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      They say fishing is easy to learn, but there\u2019s definitely a lot of trial and error involved. For example, they learnt the hard way that during storms or after rain, fish tend to move further away from the pier, making it way harder to get a decent catch \u2014 which apparently should ideally be around 30cm long. But one of their favourite memories actually came from an almost failed attempt. During the break, they went camping specifically to fish, only to end up caught in the middle of a massive storm with freezing winds and complete darkness. They could barely see or even feel their fingers. Somehow though, they managed to catch a smaller fish to use as bait, which then helped them reel in a huge snapper. The adrenaline from that moment was unforgettable, and it basically fuelled their plans for more fishing trips this year, where they invite friends along for a social hangout before cooking the fish they catch together.

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      As Deanna said, hobbies are essential, and she feels like she actually looks forward to school more because of them. Don\u2019t let your studies consume your identity. Hobbies are such an important way to socialise, recharge, and discover who you are beyond medicine.

      Medicine trains us to delay living until some future point, but that future never really comes. Just as Evan chooses to run now instead of waiting for \u201cafter med\u201d, Rasleen refusing to put karate on pause and Summer and Deanna continue making time for fishing despite the hectic schedules, there\u2019s much to learn from their stories. Perhaps the goal was never to become only a doctor. Maybe it\u2019s to become a doctor without losing yourself in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n