Mentally Flexible

Dr. Mark Shrime, MD | The Transformative Power of Purpose

May 20, 2024

Dr. Mark G. Shrime discusses his journey from Lebanon to the US, finding purpose in medicine, embracing failure for growth, and the transformative power of aligning career with passion. He reflects on cultural identity, pressures faced, and the importance of taking action towards one's true calling.

52:10

Episode guests

Mark G. Shrime, MD

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Embracing failure and struggling can lead to personal growth and unlock new potentials.

Career choices should align with personal values and purpose, not societal expectations.

Deep dives

Importance of Embracing Failure

Embracing failure and falling in love with the feeling of struggling with something can lead to personal growth and unlock new potentials. Failure should be viewed as a detour on the road to success rather than a permanent setback. By accepting and learning from failure, individuals can break the idol of solely focusing on the hope for successful outcomes.

Introduction

3min

Exploring Purpose, from Civil War to Surgeon

3min

Navigating Cultural Identity in Texas

9min

Finding Purpose in a Medical Career

22min

Exploring Privilege, Purpose, and Self-Discovery

2min

Embracing Failure for Growth and Purpose

10min

Embracing Purpose and Taking Action

3min

My guest today is Dr. Mark G. Shrime, MD. Dr. Mark is the International Chief Medical Officer at Mercy Ships and a Lecturer in Global Health and Social Medicine at the Harvard Medical School. He is the author of Solving for Why: A Surgeon's Journey to Discover the Transformative Power of Purpose (Hachette 2022).

He has spoken at the United Nations, WHO, Harvard, Princeton, and around the world addressing issues of healthcare inequity, moral injury in the healthcare workforce, and the non-health outcomes of health policies. In 2018, he was awarded the Arnold P. Gold Humanism in Medicine Award by the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery.

Some of the topics we explore in this episode include:
- Moving to the US from Lebanon as a child
- What it was like growing up within an immigrant family context
- Pressures faced to go into medicine
- Dr. Mark’s process of finding his purpose
- How fear and uncertainty keep us from making changes in life
- And how embracing failure can be a catalyst for growth

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Dr. Shrime’s website: https://www.markshrime.com/

Solving for Why: https://a.co/d/7jWLggv

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