Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Original Fiction FDK: Imposter Syndrome (1/1)

All comments appreciated.

Joy,
Lynn

Oh, I know that one very well. Or maybe I'm really just an imposter and have been lucky so far that nobody has called me out on it. No, seriously, I don't know how many nights I wondered why on earth they weren't calling a real doctor instead of me. Well, quite obviously because I was the one on duty, huh?

Today, after almost ten years of practising medicine, I'm mostly able to convince myself that I know what I'm doing. But sometimes, the voices of doubt return.

And like your narrator, I know the feeling of inadequacy concerning my writing. It doesn't exactly help that I don't write in my native language. But if I did, what would be my excuse for indulging in this particular pleasure?



You convey the feeling very well and I'm pretty sure, you're not an imposter. Just in case you were wondering

Hi Barbara, I’m sorry to hear we have this in common, but I am relieved to know I am not alone.

Change “real doctor” with “real computer networking instructor” and I pretty much echo your sentiment.

Thanks for the reassurance, and right back atcha.

Actually, I'm not sure there is reason to be sorry about being not too self-assured. Granted, the self-doubts should not be so bad that they're paralyzing. But I think it's healthy to recognize that not everything we accomplish can be attributed to skills.

I remember one woman who might have died without me. At least to my knowledge she survived and I played an important role in getting her to the right hospital in time. I was an emergency doctor, then. The German medical system has doctors working side by side with the paramedics at the scene.

When my paramedic driver and I arrived at the scene, the other paramedics were just measuring the woman's bloodpressure. She had a faint pulse on her left arm and a low blood pressure. I felt her pulse on her free arm, where her pulse was strong. And her blood pressure there was normal.

That was the important clue to the right diagnosis. She was suffering from a rare disease, which most doctors encounter maybe once in their lifetime. If we hadn't arrived at precisely the moment we did, if I hadn't chosen her right arm to feel for her pulse, I would have thought she was suffering from a heart attack. We would have taken her to a closer hospital without the cardiac surgeons she would have needed.

It took medical skills to help her, but there was also quite an amount of good fortune involved.

I think that people who don't believe that they're the best, most accomplished guys to ever set foot on the face of earth might end up doing there job a little better, because they're humble enough to recognize their limits.

You make an excellent point, Barbara. And your patient was, indeed, very fortunate to have had you as her doctor.

Thank you,
Lynn

Thank you.

While thinking about your story, I wondered if Clark, too, is suffering from Imposter's Syndrome. While it's quite obvious that noone else could do the things he does, every time he's not perfect, he seems to wonder why he ever thought he might be qualified for the job.

And on more than one occasion he seems to feel like an imposter, who tries to fill Superman's larger than life shoes. He needs Lois to remind him that a does a good job as a Superhero.

And maybe that is one of the reasons it takes him so long to reveal his secret (other than the writers dragging out the process ). He doesn't feel like he's Superman and it seems just a tad preposterous to call himself that.

I love how you relate IS to our favourite superhero. Your analysis seems spot on to me.