Set Your Heart On Fire
To pursue medicine, or to pursue anything else? A common misconception of those dreaming of medical school, completing residency, and making it as a physician is that everything else must be placed on hold. Delay gratification, sacrifice hobbies and pleasures, and focus on the end of the journey ahead. Dr. Tommy Martin proves, however, that a life in medicine is anything but binary. Many of you probably already know who he is and the amazing life he leads, but in case not, here are some of the many hats he wears – Dual-Certified Physician, Athlete, Educator, Social Media Creator, and above all, loving Father and Husband. While it might seem daunting laying those all out in a row, Martin wouldn’t want you to view it that way. He simply does what brings him joy and what brings joy to others. Whether you carry one passion or a multitude, he would tell you to wake up every morning and do what sets your heart on fire.
So, to accomplish everything he has within medicine, he must have wanted to pursue this all from a young age, right? You’d be surprised that Martin had very different plans growing up:
“All throughout high school, I was dead set on being a math teacher and a coach. But when I was about 14 years old, I worked with a company that helped children with autism. There, I met someone who came up to me and said, ‘Hey, I need to tell you something. Can you pull out your cell phone and record what I'm going to tell you? I think God has big plans for you, and you're going to go to many nations and heal people in Jesus' name.’
I didn't really know what to think about it. I continued throughout high school still set on being a teacher and a coach. I went on a mission trip my senior year in high school to St. Louis. The pastor did a sermon on God’s plans. I went down to the altar and asked, ‘I'm about to go to college, I'm going to be a teacher and a coach. Could you pray over me?’ He started to pray, but during his prayer, he said he believed that God had plans for me that one day I would become a physician and go to many nations to heal people in Jesus' name. Again, weird. Didn't know what to think of it, so I thanked him but said I'm going to be a teacher and a coach. Later after the trip, my uncle bought me a new laptop for graduation, and on that laptop, there was an audio file. Not knowing what it was, I listened to that audio file and heard that message recorded years ago, saying the exact same thing. My goodness.
From that day forward, I was dead set on becoming a doctor.
And I never looked back.”
An incredible start to a life in medicine, but also the beginning of truly balancing passions. Up until this point, exercise and training had already been a huge component of his life. He began lifting weights in the fifth grade. While he admits this may have been par for the course with where he grew up, what he did next was anything but average. Martin continued pushing his training through high school and college. He later met his wife, and his training (and life as a whole) changed for good.
“On our first date, we ran 10 miles together. I'd never run before, so queue the stress fracture. We made a deal that if I ran with her, she would work out with me. But after that run, I saw how terrible at this I was, and I wanted to be better. I signed up for a marathon, trained for 12 weeks and ran my first road race. And by the grace of God qualified for Boston. Then starting residency, I said, you know what? I want to show that you could be healthy and fit while maintaining the lifestyle of a doctor. What better way to show this than to sign up for something I thought was a feat of fitness: an Ironman. I hadn’t really cycled before. And I hadn’t swam before…except to stay alive. So, of course, I signed up for a full-distance Ironman in 16 weeks and went for it. I became addicted and have been doing it ever since.”
To keep all these pursuits alive and well, time management is key. Anyone in medicine knows a healthy routine is vital to a healthy life, even without trying to balance multiple passions. It’s more important now than ever to be intentional with your time and carve out opportunities for the things that matter. No matter how hectic life gets, you must protect what drives your soul. Medicine is such a rewarding field. Every day you get to make a tangible impact in someone’s life. The beautiful and tragic thing about medicine is that there is always more you can do. There is always another person you can help. So, it can get easy to lose track of life outside, especially with the sacrifices we make to get there. But what happens when we become so focused on taking care of others that we forget to take care of ourselves? We can’t pour from an empty cup. What happens when we become so focused on the end goal that we lose sight of the joys along the path? The passion that drove us in the first place begins to fade. And what happens when we become so ingrained in a routine that, when we need to, we cannot give ourselves grace?
“A big mistake I’ve made in the past is being too regimented. Having a routine that didn't allow for hanging out with my friends one night. One that didn't allow for going away on a weekend with my family. Ever since I was very young, I've been extremely goal oriented. I woke up very early before school to start studying even at a very young age. And I think a lot of it's from my background. Neither of my parents finished high school. We were very poor. I saw them work extremely hard to become successful, and I wanted to do the same thing. So, at a young age, I started making very strict schedules. All throughout growing up. Throughout high school. Through college. I'd wake up at four to study or work out before school. Everything was regimented and so goal-oriented that often I missed out on the rest of life happening around me. It's still okay to have a schedule, but just don’t let it control your life. Be okay to step away from it. It's okay to miss a workout. Let yourself spend time with friends and family. It took me way far too long to realize that.”
What a lesson I think we can all stand to learn from and implement in our own lives. There are several nuggets Martin offered that fundamentally affect his routine and happiness. The biggest, he admits, is starting with sleep. It’s one of the things we tend to push off first, yet it’s the key to keeping our passions burning. While there is no one-sleep-fits-all model, everyone has their own sweet spot to wake up as the best version of themselves. Maybe Martin’s 3-4 am wake-up call to start training before work may work wonders for you too. His love of the “golden hours,” the times in early morning when the world is quiet and his mind can center on the day ahead, is shared by many creatives. Maybe that routine could work for you, or maybe your best work is done in the evening. Whatever your process may be, find a sleep schedule that works for you and allows you to drive forward. And for the times when you need to, give yourself grace.
Apart from his work in MedPeds and athletic training, Martin has developed an incredible social presence across multiple platforms (2.3m on TikTok and 134k on Instagram), using his platforms to educate, entertain, and inspire. While social media is anything but new, we are entering a new age of medicine in which we are beginning to use social media as a tool for change. A common concern that readers (and really pre-meds/medical students everywhere) carry is to what degree should they pursue passions separate from medicine. There is a lot of fear surrounding how much time you should give to something separate and what lengths you should go to publicize it. Statements like “You’re not fully invested” or “You’re wasting time” get tossed around all too often, discouraging many from keeping those passions alive. Martin would say that not only should your unique joys be encouraged, but they are necessary for where we are going.
“Before being a doctor, you're a human. And the world around us has tried to do away with that and say, ‘You are not a human. You are a doctor. You're supposed to study medicine, be in the hospital and work, treat your patients. That's it.’ But that's not reality. No one can live that way. We've had a society that has made that the standard, so it looks strange when people stray away from it. I have found by going away from that and still doing all the things that I love and doing them to like the fullest with all of my heart, with all of my soul, and still doing medicine the exact same way. I love everything. I love my job. Even on the most difficult days, I love what I do. Not just because I love medicine, but because medicine's not stealing away the rest of my life or the rest of my humanity. I'm still keeping in with all of that. Right. And it helps me by doing the things I love outside of medicine. It makes me the best doctor I could possibly be.
“I would say that whatever sets your heart on fire, whatever you are most passionate about, your resume needs to be flooded with that. If that's medicine, awesome. If it's stuff outside of medicine, awesome. Mine had tons of fitness events, tons of philanthropy, tons of mission trips, tons of working in orphanages, like all different types of stuff. Did I shadow in a hospital? Not once. Does that mean I'm not interested in medicine? No. Instead, I went to Africa and served in a hospital. Instead, I went to Sierra Leone and worked in an orphanage. Just because you give attention to one thing doesn't mean you don't love the other thing as well. If you love many things, give your time to the things you love.”
That lesson is one I’d hope for anyone pursuing medicine to hold dear. Not only will it keep you centered and energized for the journey ahead, but it will absolutely translate to becoming a happier and more full-filled doctor. Patients will feel that too, and after all, isn’t that why we begin this journey in the first place?
Now, it should be said that bringing social media into medicine creates its own challenges. With any tool, we must be careful about how it is used. Having a brand or social identity allows Martin to speak his thoughts on medicine and life, but how and when he uses it must be understood.
“I am extremely blessed to have this platform. It's been incredible, providing opportunities to speak on social media use for medicine as a whole and help stop the spread of misinformation. But it is also a double-edged sword. Having this platform also carries a responsibility to do good. Not just protecting patients’ privacy and well-being, but helping educate and guide viewers through the storm of conflicting information they receive. Anyone bringing social media into healthcare must be careful that you aren’t doing anything inappropriate and to make sure the information they post is evidence-based.
“I don't separate the fact that I’m on social media and that I'm a doctor. When in the hospital, if people recognize me from social media, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I think it helps patients relate to you more. It helps build trust. When they recognize you, they see someone putting out evidence-based information will be involved in their care. In fact, when it comes to the argument of separating social media and your role as a physician, I would argue that with there being billions of people looking to social media for medical information, we no longer have the luxury as doctors of not helping them navigate social media. It should be a priority and a necessity because of how much misinformation is spread, notably faster than evidence-based information spreads off social media. You could have groundbreaking research. It could be the cure to the world's deadliest disease. What does it matter if nobody reads it? That’s where we must understand the importance of social media and how to reach people the right way.”
There is something in all our hearts that drives us and gives us purpose. For some, it may be a single desire, a solitary joy. Others may carry numerous passions completely disparate from one another. Whatever you carry that makes life burn with joy, never let its embers dim. Never cover your passions. Give them your heart, as they’ll keep your heart going. They’ll make you not just a better physician, but they’ll give you a better life. Martin doesn’t put his time into all these avenues because of pressures or outside influence. He doesn’t pour into these pursuits because he’s trying to fit in a box or be something people expect him to be. He gives his all to medicine, athletics, education, and family because they give everything back to him.
More by Tyler Beauchamp at www.tyler-beauchamp.com
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