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Dr. Laurence A. Savett told pre-medical students that doctors can have time for family and a social life outside of their careers.

Doctor Shows Ways To Survive Pre-Med

By: Rachel Madariaga

Posted: 10/2/07

Laurence A. Savett, M.D. met with the Pre-medical Society Monday night to not only offer advice but reassurance students about entering the medical profession. Dr. Savett, a practicing physician for over 30 years, is now teaching at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Macalester College and the University of Saint Thomas. He also is author of the book, "The Human Side of Medicine."

One thing that Dr. Savett made clear to his audience was that as a physician one should never make assumptions.

He recounted one of his first experiences where he wrongly assumed because a woman was elderly, she was also hard of hearing.

"[I went up to her in a loud voice] and said 'I am Dr. Savett,' and she responded with, 'good for you.'"

While doing market research, Dr. Savett came across interesting figures, which he admits were roughly calculated. There are more than 250,000 students who go into college with a pre-med concentration.

When the graduating class applies to medical school there will be 16,000 to 17,000 openings in med school, yet only approximately 36,000 students will apply for these positions, according to Dr. Savett. He questioned what happened to the missing 214,000 students.

Dr. Savett's goal was to make sure that these students weren't having second thoughts due to common myths of the medical profession.

"You don't need to be a genius to be a doctor, you simply need to have a good head and a good heart," Dr. Savett said. You also need to know "the limits of your own knowledge."

There is also the common myth that current doctors do not have any time to develop the relationship between patient and doctor. Dr. Savett stressed that it is the relationship that "will enhance the quality of the diagnosis and treatment." He explained to the audience that it takes time for the patients to tell their story and find meaning in their illness.

This relationship is even more important today because so much information is available to patients via the Web. It is the doctor's job to provide "context and reassurance in a thoughtful way."

Dr. Savett also believes that students go into medical school with all the necessary values - a real commitment to the obligation to serve others. One of the biggest goals of medical school is not to "socialize these values as one goes through medical school."

It is the responsibility of the doctor to keep these values as they continue to practice "each physician is the guardian of the values of his or her practice," according to Savett.

The last point that Dr. Savett stressed was that a doctor can be a good doctor and have another life. He even went on to say that one of the most important things is "to have a personal life." He assured the audience that it was possible for a doctor to have a family and a career.

His advice had an impact on the audience.

"I was reassured by the fact the Dr. Savett assured us that we could also have personal lives," said Victoria Bosshart, a 1st-semester biology major. "It's something that we all worry about."

Persis Thomas, a 1st-semester molecular and cellular biology major, agreed.

"It was nice to hear Dr. Savett talk because he cleared up all the common misconceptions - we can be normal people with normal lives," he said.

However it was not only freshmen that gained from Dr. Savett's lecture.

Devorah Donnell, a 5th-semester neurobiology major and president of the Pre-medical Society stated that although she has "always been set, and had a longtime passion for being a doctor, she learned from Dr. Savett key characteristics and techniques for being an effective and human doctor."

"I took a course on his book, which is now one of my favorite books, and think so highly of him as a physician, a person and a teacher," Donnell said. "It was an absolute pleasure to learn and speak to this man who has such great perspective and wisdom."

Contact Rachel Madariaga at

Rachel.Madariaga@UConn.edu.