When Tom saw his father's hair turn gray overnight after a deadly accident during a surgery his father performed in 1993, he decided to never
1medical school. However, today, Tom is an anesthesiologist (麻醉师)at a famous hospital.
In 2019, the 20th year since he2 the field, Tom wrote a letter to his father, who passed away over two decades ago. The son recalled his dad's final3."Although there are so many 4, I hope you become an anesthesiologist." Tom's father told him," Surgeons can't5 without anesthesiologists. The risk of anesthesia is high, and no one wants to do it. You are my son. I hope you can carry this6with courage."
In the letter, Tom recalls several events that 7both of their careers. As a skillful surgeon, his father8high praise from his patients. But two deadly medical incidents 9his life. Tom also10two events when his patients nearly died during surgery. Thanks to 11 in the field, both were saved. He wonders if12technology could have saved his father's patients and if he might have been more13to enter medical school. The 45-year-old, s biggest 14 is that he could not work alongside his father. "15, improved anesthesiology means the distance between us as father and son is 16 a little more," Tom writes in the letter.
The letter17him the 2019 Wakley-Wu Lien Teh Prize, which aims to give a18to doctors to tell their own stories and19their concerns. The Lancet, one of the world's leading medical journals, comments that Tom's essay shows a20voice to tell clinical truths that inform and encourage.
