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Analysis Of The Final Stage Of Life By Erik Erikson

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What does it mean to live? Is it simply to eat, work, sleep, and repeat? Is that going to be enough of a reason by the time one is retired and is in “integrity versus despair” stage of life as Erik Erikson describes in the final stage of his psychological development theory? Personally, I disagree. I believe in order for life to have any meaning, one needs to create and achieve goals that impact the world around them. As I see it, realizing one’s potential and setting realistic goals based on that potential is the key to developing integrity rather than despair later in life.
Personal circumstances have played a great role in choosing medicine as my career pursuit. My family, in particular, has not been without influence on this decision. My dad, now a nurse practitioner, was still in school when I was younger and so I grew up around the influence of his books and study materials as well as stories from his time working at the hospital. I, of course, did not understand any of it; in fact, I suffered nightmares for several nights after I came across pictures of tumors in one of his Pathophysiology books. Nevertheless, the seeds were planted and my interests slowly gravitated toward the field of science and a career in medicine. The reason why I am choosing to become a physician in particular is because I am interested in playing a more central role in shaping the structure of the care a patient receives. Furthermore, the gratification and honor of being a healer is utterly

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