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Medicine ended up being the best thing I ever did for my writing.

Medicine is a supremely useful profession. Fiction writing is not.

Medicine and writing are natural companions.

My writing flows out of my doctorhood. They are not separate things. They are one. I think the foremost connection between being a doctor and being a writer is the great privilege of having an intimate view of one's fellow humans, the privilege of being there and helping other people at their most vulnerable moments.

My father said writing was a nice hobby. He strongly encouraged my brother and me to become doctors.

Medicine may be the lens through which I see the world, but since I think of medicine as 'life +', a place where life is exaggerated and seen at its most vital and poignant, I'll be writing about life more than I will be writing about medicine.

Medicine involves dealing with people who are going through changes and cycles, often people trapped in bodies that are going out from under them. Spending time with them lets you think their way, gives you insights as a writer.

When you're in medicine - especially when you're a resident in a public hospital - you feel like you're doing your part. But not when you're a writer.

I knew at university that medicine was just not for me. I saved many lives by not being a doctor!