Proust questionnaire: Mike T. Marshall, MD

Issue: BCMJ, vol. 54, No. 10, December 2012, Page 546 Proust for Physicians
By: Mike Marshall, MD,

proust portrait of Dr. Marshall

What profession might you have pursued, if not for medicine?
Boatbuilding or cabinetry.

Which talent would you most like to have?
The ability to create music.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Somehow convincing one of the world’s great women to have a brain cramp and marry me.

Who are your heroes?
Isaac Newton, Bobby Jones, and my four children.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Golf and sailing with family.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Cheapness—it prevents me from doing exciting things.

What is your favorite activity?
Golf. And travel involving golf.

On what occasion do you lie?
On the rare occasion when I need to save a patient from my fears before a diagnosis is proved.

Where would you most like to practise?
If not here, then in Australia—I believe their system makes more sense than ours.

What technological medical ad­vance do you most anticipate?
An immunologic method to make cancer cells self-destruct.

What is your greatest fear?
A major diagnostic error.

What do you most value in your colleagues?
Sense of humor and common sense.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Unprintable ones, on the golf course.

What is your most marked characteristic?
Self-deprecation.

Who are your favorite writers?
Garrison Keillor, Douglas Adams, Bill Bryson, and John Updike.

What is your greatest regret?
Not buying Whistler real estate 25 years ago.

How would you like to die?
Like all men—shot by a jealous husband at age 95.

What is your motto?
Don’t panic!

Mike Marshall, MD,. Proust questionnaire: Mike T. Marshall, MD. BCMJ, Vol. 54, No. 10, December, 2012, Page(s) 546 - Proust for Physicians.


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Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002;347:284-7.

About the ICMJE and citation styles

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