Day in the Life
The Multi-Faceted Practice of Bruce Becker, MD’76
By Dana Sun, MS1
Each spring, the Medical & Biological Sciences Alumni Association sponsors the Day in the Life Experience, which gives current medical students the opportunity to shadow Pritzker alumni in their professional lives during spring break. If you would like to participate in the Day in the Life Experience or find out more information about other student-alumni programs, please visit the Medical & Biological Sciences Alumni Association at bsdalumni.uchicago.edu.
What do Lyme disease, Horner’s syndrome, and schistosomiasis have in common? All were a part of a day in my life when I shadowed primary care physician and gastroenterologist Dr. Bruce Becker in Waltham, Massachusetts as part of the Alumni Association’s Day in the Life experience. Dr. Bruce Becker, a Pritzker alumnus from the Class of 1976, asked me a variety of questions covering some of these topics between patient visits, which subsequently became my “homework” for the next day. I learned a tremendous amount through independent research and insightful discussions with him.
Bruce Becker, MD’76
It is difficult as a first-year medical student to gain exposure to clinical settings outside of the medical center and the South Side. The Day in the Life experience was a great opportunity to see alternative ways medical practices can be structured. After my early morning drive through several sleepy New England towns, Dr. Becker and I started the week off strong, rotating through clinic rooms, chatting with patients about their children, discovering their reasons for visiting, and helping them with their health concerns. The sheer diversity of the patients was phenomenal; I met both an opera singer as well as a hunter who used a bow and arrow to shoot the largest buck in Massachusetts. I shadowed Dr. Becker in his clinic from Monday through Wednesday and on Thursday I went with him to Newton-Wellesley Hospital, where I saw him perform colonoscopies and endoscopies. Dr. Becker spent a few of his days performing procedures in the gastroenterology unit of neighboring hospitals, but also many days in his office seeing patients as a general internist. It had never occurred to me beforehand that I could structure my future practice like this, and I found the combination of having the opportunity to perform such specialized practices and interact with a diverse patient population very appealing.
Of the many things I learned throughout the experience, one of the most influential points I gathered from shadowing Dr. Becker was that there is nothing more valuable than taking extra time to communicate with patients and their family members. One of the patients prepped and awaiting a colonoscopy had a very low heart rate, and Dr. Becker decided it was not safe to perform the procedure. I witnessed Dr. Becker counsel and reassure the patient’s worried spouse in the waiting room. In clinic, he consistently took the time to answer lists of questions about medications from patients and educate patients about their chronic medical conditions. Even though we, as students, begin to develop these abilities in our Clinical Skills class, I found it helpful to observe it in practice. Through Dr. Becker’s example, I witnessed the profound importance of this fundamental aspect of a physician’s job. My Day in the Life experience brought the practice of medicine to life at an early stage in my medical career, and I hope it will continue to evolve in the years to come.
