With time passing I reflected more on my former career path to try and foresee my possible future. There was a time, when I was a very ambitious student. Next to my medical studies I worked evenings and weekends in the hospital and often spent the rest of time in the lab, even late at night sometimes. I got a research masters degree in Neurosciences and the sure next step would have been the PhD, opening doors to start a successful academic career. I had an amazingly supportive tutor. Everything was set for the next 10 years at least. I got cold feet. And left.

I moved to Berlin and what happened then is history. I got lost and escaped completely. But now I caught myself thinking about why I wanted to follow this academic path and what I wanted to reach at the end. What was the goal? How did I see myself in the future back then? In my mind I pictured my older self, middle aged, glasses, but not lost in time. I was standing in a lecture room, confronting the new generation of young doctors with what I thought was important. Good and catching education. I wanted to teach. This is what I liked most about the career in the academy.

I focused on the search for academic positions at first. But deep inside I knew it would mean struggling with a hard way. I did not want to go back to working 80 hours a week just yet. I talked to a friend who used to teach high school students in economics while he was still studying and decided to extend my search. While medicine might be too specialized for high school and, in Germany, I think you would need a pedagogics exam and have a regular, binding schedule, I heard of the possibility to teach in nursing schools. I loved that idea.

Paramedical professionals to be, I imagined, should be motivated to learn and interested in the subject. They are also a great target group to actually make an impact on practice. During my hospital years I have seen several departments. They function in different ways, not only in workflow but especially in team spirit. This makes a great difference to the fun of working, to the ease of working and to the overall atmosphere in the place. I think a good team spirit between doctors, nurses and other professionals is of enormous importance for everyone, including the patient. It makes the hospital a safer place too.

So why not try and ask if any school around is looking for a young doctor to teach their students Neurology basics and break down the wall of hierarchy at the same time?! I googled the surroundings and found a good looking school not too far away. I just emailed them that I would be interested and they were willing to talk. They invited me immediately and it clicked.

I will give my first lectures in a couple of weeks. Again it is a freelance job, so I write an invoice and they pay me per hour. They only pay per hour of teaching, not for the preparation time. Unfortunately there is no high budget in education. It is not a salary to get rich, you will not become a millionaire, but I hope my karma points will rise and I will have some fun with the youngsters.

I will write about the teaching experience later on. For now I will dive back into my old love for neuroexamination and diagnostics and prepare some interesting cases.