People often ask me 'why psychiatry?' I offer this example that God redeems my work:

"Dear Dr. Morairty,

In dental school we studied a lot about pain. We defined pain as the perception or experience of current or future physical and/or emotional harm. Physical pain involves large unmyelinated/slower "C" nerve fibers (more like dull/chronic pain), as well as smaller myelinated/faster "alpha-something" nerve fibers (for heat/cold/temperature pain)... uhh... something nerdy like that. Some people are born without those nerves that sense pain, and end up seriously harming themselves.

This summer I've spent more time and money fixing my car than I ever have before.

As an only child of an immigrant, lower-middle class, family from China, I was always told that education comes first. And only if I could succeed in grade school would I be admitted into a prestigious university, and then be offered a good job. Since elementary school back in China, it was engrained in me that I needed to receive highest scores on exams and report cards in order to succeed. Once, I had received a 98 on one of my math final exams.

Snow was falling fluffy, but fast, lit orange by the streetlights outside the hospital room window. It was late and though I was tired, I was glad for the dim lighting of the room. L’s somber face barely hid her broken heart and spirit, her helplessness and hopelessness permeating the room. We had brought her baby guitar and my sister strummed as I sang sad songs from a Peter, Paul and Mary record we’d listened to as children.

As I write this, another powerful natural disaster in the form of an earthquake has caused massive destruction in central China. It is a situation that requires much prayer for the victims as well as a helping hand. However, I wish to focus this entry on another humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, where a little over a week ago, a cyclone ravaged the isolationist country, killing an estimated 33,000 people and leaving millions of others without basic necessities.

I entered medical school with a strong sense of calling. Despite what I now recognize as good credentials, I had a tough time with applications and ended up applying twice, only to get in at the last possible moment after one of the latest-possible interviews. It was because of these pitfalls and my undeniable enjoyment of my medical school coursework that I felt my calling confirmed.

As I have been traveling throughout Southeast Asia the past few days, I have been greatly encouraged to hear testimonies and stories from HMCC alumni who are trying to live out the Gospel message in their spheres of influence. One alum is leveraging the power of business to create an innovative approach to share the Gospel through high-end cafes. Another is thinking of ways to use art and design to uplift and encourage the poor.

My life has strangely played out in a series of halves: ethnicity (half-Japanese, half European), childhood (overweight, above-average athlete) and (persecuting atheist, Christian school-goer) elementary (class clown, 8th-grade valedictorian), high school (honors scholar, All-league varsity football), college (pre-med, frat boy) and I managed to balance these pretty well... that is until med school. Let me explain: