What I do know is in the desert of the Middle East I learned that the right decision isn't always the easiest or most appealing. Our patients don't need our judgment; they need our help.

Medical student Mason Blacker reflects on treating patients while stationed in Iraq and what is truly right and important in life.

This essay placed first in the 2022 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest and was published in the December 2022 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.