Eudaimonia
As I drove to work this morning, listening to NPR (what else?), I heard a story featuring a word that was new to me: eudaimonia. For those of you who also do not have a working knowledge of Greek, eudaimonia can be translated as “happiness as the result of an active life governed by reason”. In the NPR story, researchers who were studying success in school found that believing that one was engaged in something with meaning and purpose was the key to doing well – not being “happy” per se. Intuitively, it makes sense; but articulating this also helps me realize that this is what we hope to model and ingrain through our MD-PhD programs, workshops and courses. To wit: our pipeline programs (whose current students are featured below) are designed to show our scholars the value and impact of service through research and/or clinical care – and how a mission to serve can motivate someone through long years of graduate school and medical training. But finding your true mission – not the one that well-meaning others find for you – takes work.
We’re clearly proud of the accomplishments and achievements of our students. This newsletter highlights many of them: service awards, thesis defenses, NRSA fellowships, graduations and wonderful residency matches. What’s harder to list and measure are those moments when somehow, perhaps briefly, it all makes sense. The never-ending experiments, hours of debugging code, staring at computer screens till your head hurts…become an insight into how pathology can be interrupted and health restored. EMRs, ICD-10s, rubrics of MDM complexity handed out by the billing department…forgotten when a patient successfully connects with resources and support that give them another chance at their own version of eudaimonia.
This summer, I hope you take time to step away (even briefly) from the daily grind and take a vacation. May your vacation be happy, full of pleasurable experiences and a respite from the pressures and deadlines of work. May it also be a chance to reflect on what gives you meaning and purpose in life, and how you align your time and energy to live what is truly a good life.
Wishing you eudaimonia,
Barbara
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Barbara Kazmierczak, PhD, MD
Gustavus and Louise Pfeiffer Research Foundation MD-PhD Program Director
Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases) and of Microbial Pathogenesis