“The discipline required to study medicine — the long hours, the note taking, the attention to detail — definitely made my transition to the NFL easier. Even just having a better understanding of how to take care of my body with nutrition and hydration has been helpful. But beyond that, playing in the NFL has taught me how to deal with failure in a way I’ve never experienced before. You can practice really hard and be at the very top of your art, but sometimes that’s still not enough to win a game.
By nature I’m a very competitive person, and playing football at this level has instilled in me a certain sense of resilience that has definitely helped me in my pursuit in medicine. Just like you can’t win every game, you won’t always have a successful outcome with every patient. What is in your control is how you deal with loss and disappointment. Learning how to keep a clear mind so that I can take lessons from every experience, regardless of the outcome, has definitely made me a better physician, as well as a better football player.”
Congratulations to Canadian Dr. Laurent D. Tardif. He is the first physician to play in the Super Bowl!
More on Le Docteur by Laurent Duvernay-Tardif via The Players’ Tribune.
UBC Family Practice Residency Program: Abbotsford-Mission Site 