Proust questionnaire: Charlene Kotze

Issue: BCMJ, vol. 53, No. 7, September 2011, Page 382 Proust for Physicians
By: Charlene Kotze, MD,

proust portrait if Dr. Kotze

What profession might you have pursued, if not for medicine?
Archeologist; I love history!

Which talent would you most like to have?
Skiing ability.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Adopting my daughter (it’s not really an achievement, but it felt like one at the time).

Who are your heroes?
The people working for Doctors Without Borders; single parents without grandparents to watch the kids.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
A beach and a book, or a fireplace and a book. Well, anything and a book, with my family around me.

What is your greatest fear?
Losing my child, and/or my mind.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Fear of the phone.

What characteristic do your favorite patients share?
Resilience, perseverance.

Which living physician do you most admire?
No specific one, but rural physicians in general.

What is your favorite activity?
Reading, and going on cruises.

On what occasion do you lie?
About the Easter Bunny. And the Tooth Fairy. And Santa.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
“If it’s not written down, it didn’t happen.”

What is your greatest regret?
Never learning to fly (a plane, I mean).

Where would you most like to practise?
On a cruise ship.

What medical advance do you most anticipate?
The return of clinical skills, and the five senses.

What is your most marked characteristic?
Stubbornness.

What do you most value in your colleagues?
Willingness to question the obvious.

Who are your favorite writers?
Breg Iles, Kathy Reichs, and about 122 others.

How would you like to die?
Without regrets.

What is your motto?
People who say it cannot be done should get out of the way of people who are doing it.

Charlene Kotze, MD,. Proust questionnaire: Charlene Kotze. BCMJ, Vol. 53, No. 7, September, 2011, Page(s) 382 - Proust for Physicians.


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