Documentary Explores Toll of Becoming a Doctor

Pulling back the curtain on physician training, a new documentary chronicles five students’ experiences at University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (SMD) while exploring alternative approaches to the rigorous process.

Medical school is highly competitive and intense, often described as drinking from a fire hose because of the volume of information students must digest. Success requires tenacity, grit, and resilience, while remaining connected to their personal vision.

“The Healer’s Journey,” created by University of Rochester Medicine physician Michael “Mick” Krasner, MD, and Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker Dave Marshall, of Blue Sky Project, highlights the students’ transformation during medical education, and other methods of training.

“We wanted to know why people chose to become doctors and how this early stage of their medical education, medical school, shapes their professional identity,” said Krasner, professor emeritus of Medicine. He practiced Primary Care Internal Medicine for decades before retiring in 2022, and is co-director of University of Rochester Medicine Mindful Practice in Medicine programs.

“We looked at how their identity is shaped by factors that are beyond what we call in education the formal curriculum—the things we want to teach them. Their identities are simultaneously being formed by the hidden curriculum—a reflection of the medical culture and the world at large and how they find their through it.”

The film shares students’ experiences in the classroom, anatomy lab and hospital inpatient units, juxtaposed with beautiful moments captured during a group trek, near the end of medical school, along the Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage known for introspection, transformation, and spiritual awakening. It also captures intimate recorded moments of students’ joy, loneliness, and despair when their performance fell short of expectations.

“Being part of this project was interesting and now I realize how we were able to be open during our vlogging (video blog.) It was a safe and secure environment, and we could be transparent and vulnerable,” Choe said.

Students addressed the challenges of seemingly endless exams and assessments and the value of hands-on learning, with insights from medical educational experts across the globe.