{"id":24896,"date":"2025-08-26T16:25:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T20:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/?p=24896"},"modified":"2025-08-26T17:21:46","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T21:21:46","slug":"a-physician-chronicles-joy-and-challenges-through-poetry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/2025\/08\/a-physician-chronicles-joy-and-challenges-through-poetry\/","title":{"rendered":"A Physician Chronicles Joy and Challenges Through Poetry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>The <\/strong><strong>joy of teaching medicine through life\u2019s toughest challenges<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>By <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cooperhealth.org\/doctors\/john-mcgeehan-md\"><strong>John F. McGeehan, MD<\/strong><\/a><strong>, Professor of General Medicine, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Originally published on KevinMD.com on August 20, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Sepsis, multi-organ failure, near death<br \/>\nI fought back to the work I loved.<br \/>\nLife shifted; teaching\u2019s call opened another door.<br \/>\nNot time yet.<br \/>\nThe student clinic, a rebirth at the bedside,<br \/>\nWatching timid M1s bloom into confident, caring M3s: pure joy.<br \/>\nBeing a doctor, teaching, healing, helping those in need.<br \/>\nNot time yet.<br \/>\nThe pure fun of light bulbs igniting in small groups,<br \/>\nConnecting with so many bright, caring young minds,<br \/>\nKnowing medicine\u2019s future is secure through them.<br \/>\nNot time yet.<br \/>\nAnother major illness: achalasia, infected diverticulum.<br \/>\nThirty pounds lost\u2014major surgery\u2014long recovery. Is it now time?<br \/>\nStudent emails, family\u2019s constant encouragement.<br \/>\nNot time yet.<br \/>\nA mandated medical and cognitive evaluation at my age:<br \/>\nOver four hours. Three on cognition alone!<br \/>\nWhat if I fail? Is this worth it? Yes!<br \/>\nNot time yet.<br \/>\nA rough day softened by an overly kind evaluation,<br \/>\nA hospital stay, cared for by wonderful former students,<br \/>\nAge\u2019s common aches eased by a card from a past mentee.<br \/>\nNot time yet.<br \/>\nThe unchanging appearance of students lets me pretend I\u2019m not aging,<br \/>\nThis old mind still embracing new knowledge.<br \/>\nStories told, others heard, stories yet to unfold.<br \/>\nNot time yet.<br \/>\nThe chance to share wisdom still brings a smile,<br \/>\nHumanism recognized, filling my heart.<br \/>\nEvery day I consider retiring, but<br \/>\nthe magic of medicine,<br \/>\nthe amazing students,<br \/>\nthe sheer joy of my work<br \/>\nconfirms it is not time yet.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you, Dr. McGeehan, for sharing your beautiful words!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The joy of teaching medicine through life\u2019s toughest challenges By John F. McGeehan, MD, Professor of General Medicine, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University Originally published\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A Physician Chronicles Joy and Challenges Through Poetry - Weekly Rounds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Physician Chronicles Joy and Challenges Through Poetry - Weekly Rounds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The joy of teaching medicine through life\u2019s toughest challenges By John F. McGeehan, MD, Professor of General Medicine, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University Originally published\u2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/2025\/08\/a-physician-chronicles-joy-and-challenges-through-poetry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Weekly Rounds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-26T20:25:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-26T21:21:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mlongshore\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mlongshore\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\\\/weeklyrounds\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/a-physician-chronicles-joy-and-challenges-through-poetry\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\\\/weeklyrounds\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/a-physician-chronicles-joy-and-challenges-through-poetry\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"mlongshore\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\\\/weeklyrounds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f78f75144b35a7a07cfdd71793b7888c\"},\"headline\":\"A Physician Chronicles Joy and Challenges Through Poetry\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-26T20:25:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-26T21:21:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\\\/weeklyrounds\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/a-physician-chronicles-joy-and-challenges-through-poetry\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":290,\"articleSection\":[\"General\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\\\/weeklyrounds\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/a-physician-chronicles-joy-and-challenges-through-poetry\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\\\/weeklyrounds\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/a-physician-chronicles-joy-and-challenges-through-poetry\\\/\",\"name\":\"A Physician Chronicles Joy and Challenges Through Poetry - Weekly Rounds\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\\\/weeklyrounds\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-26T20:25:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-26T21:21:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\\\/weeklyrounds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f78f75144b35a7a07cfdd71793b7888c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\\\/weeklyrounds\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/a-physician-chronicles-joy-and-challenges-through-poetry\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\\\/weeklyrounds\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/a-physician-chronicles-joy-and-challenges-through-poetry\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\\\/weeklyrounds\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/a-physician-chronicles-joy-and-challenges-through-poetry\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\\\/weeklyrounds\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Physician Chronicles Joy and Challenges Through Poetry\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\\\/weeklyrounds\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\\\/weeklyrounds\\\/\",\"name\":\"Weekly Rounds\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\\\/weeklyrounds\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\\\/weeklyrounds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f78f75144b35a7a07cfdd71793b7888c\",\"name\":\"mlongshore\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e6265d1e4c76710b01a9557a40ba4967e4b3d48c96cbddf672f6956775b23c92?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e6265d1e4c76710b01a9557a40ba4967e4b3d48c96cbddf672f6956775b23c92?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e6265d1e4c76710b01a9557a40ba4967e4b3d48c96cbddf672f6956775b23c92?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mlongshore\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\\\/weeklyrounds\\\/author\\\/mlongshore\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Physician Chronicles Joy and Challenges Through Poetry - Weekly Rounds","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Physician Chronicles Joy and Challenges Through Poetry - Weekly Rounds","og_description":"The joy of teaching medicine through life\u2019s toughest challenges By John F. McGeehan, MD, Professor of General Medicine, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University Originally published\u2026","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/2025\/08\/a-physician-chronicles-joy-and-challenges-through-poetry\/","og_site_name":"Weekly Rounds","article_published_time":"2025-08-26T20:25:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-08-26T21:21:46+00:00","author":"mlongshore","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"mlongshore","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/2025\/08\/a-physician-chronicles-joy-and-challenges-through-poetry\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/2025\/08\/a-physician-chronicles-joy-and-challenges-through-poetry\/"},"author":{"name":"mlongshore","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/#\/schema\/person\/f78f75144b35a7a07cfdd71793b7888c"},"headline":"A Physician Chronicles Joy and Challenges Through Poetry","datePublished":"2025-08-26T20:25:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-26T21:21:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/2025\/08\/a-physician-chronicles-joy-and-challenges-through-poetry\/"},"wordCount":290,"articleSection":["General"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/2025\/08\/a-physician-chronicles-joy-and-challenges-through-poetry\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/2025\/08\/a-physician-chronicles-joy-and-challenges-through-poetry\/","name":"A Physician Chronicles Joy and Challenges Through Poetry - Weekly Rounds","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-08-26T20:25:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-26T21:21:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/#\/schema\/person\/f78f75144b35a7a07cfdd71793b7888c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/2025\/08\/a-physician-chronicles-joy-and-challenges-through-poetry\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/2025\/08\/a-physician-chronicles-joy-and-challenges-through-poetry\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/2025\/08\/a-physician-chronicles-joy-and-challenges-through-poetry\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Physician Chronicles Joy and Challenges Through Poetry"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/","name":"Weekly Rounds","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/#\/schema\/person\/f78f75144b35a7a07cfdd71793b7888c","name":"mlongshore","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e6265d1e4c76710b01a9557a40ba4967e4b3d48c96cbddf672f6956775b23c92?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e6265d1e4c76710b01a9557a40ba4967e4b3d48c96cbddf672f6956775b23c92?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e6265d1e4c76710b01a9557a40ba4967e4b3d48c96cbddf672f6956775b23c92?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mlongshore"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/author\/mlongshore\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/69"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24896"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24897,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24896\/revisions\/24897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}