Q & A with Dr. Derek Bair, director of Neonatology at Oakwood Hospital-Deaborn

Q: What inspired you to go into medicine?

A: I always wanted to go into medicine for as long as I could remember—from ninth grade on. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be human medicine—at one time I thought it would be veterinary medicine—and I came really close. It’s somewhat similar. Patients can’t tell you what’s wrong with them, they can’t tell you where it hurts. You really have to take a look at what’s going on, look at all the visual cues because your patient can’t communicate directly with you. You constantly have to be thinking.

Q: What piece one piece of advice would you give someone who is studying to be a doctor or who wants to be a doctor?

A: I’d give them the same piece of advice that I gave my daughter—and that’s probably why she didn’t become a doctor. Some people refer to medicine as a calling. I prefer to refer to it as a field where you really have to know what you’re getting yourself into. I honestly did not know what I was getting myself into. I should have investigated a little bit more

Q: What was the biggest surprise, once you started practicing medicine:

A: The time commitment really hit me. As an undergraduate and grad student, I got used to studying many, many hours. There’s no time for anything. The time commitment in my clinical years was just as ungodly. When I started as an intern, we worked more than 100 hours a week, I mean on your feet, 100 hours a week.

Q: Where do you see your field in 10 years?