NEW YORK, NY–Tristan Azubuike, M.D., has been an emergency medicine doctor for nearly ten years now. It’s never been easy work, but the onslaught of stress and frustration brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has gotten the better of him recently. Dr. Azubuike is burnt-out. A mixture of politics, unreasonable patients, long hours, and systemic American healthcare complaints have him feeling quite disillusioned. Through all the chaos, Dr. Azubuike fears losing touch with the motivation that got him this far, to begin with. To reckon with it, he’s making an effort to reconnect with his younger self in order to re-discover his love for medicine. 

People are drawn to the medical field for a variety of reasons. For some, it’s the persisting need to help others. Or, it could be familial pressure. Others are drawn to the job title, generous pay, societal status, and prestige of a career in medicine. In Tristan’s case, his rationale is a rather unique one. “The Stanley Kubrick movie Eyes Wide Shut. Seeing that glorious work of cinematic art — that’s when I knew I wanted to be a doctor,” Dr. Azubuike reflected. “There’s that scene where Tom Cruise saves the woman from overdosing, and that was cool, but it’s mostly about the orgy stuff for me. Kubrick makes it abundantly clear if you become a doctor, then your chances of stumbling into an underground world of elitist sex cults significantly increase. That’s always stuck with me.”

Upon finishing his rewatch, Tristan felt the fire restored in his belly. He excused himself to the bathroom for the next half hour and came back looking sufficiently relieved. “That was a good wake-up call. I feel like a young, horny med student all over again. It’s a special feeling.” Dr. Azubuike had an excellent shift after that, putting his doubts and malpractice lawsuits behind him. To date, he has never been invited to an orgy, but the understanding that it might happen one day is enough to keep Tristan’s engine running.