Interview with Jay Watson, M.D.|August 2010 Issue

[THE INTERVIEWER]

Hello, Dr. Watson, thank you for coming. I must say it's a pleasure to be sitting down with you today for this interview. Are you comfortable? Is there anything you need before we start? If not, I'd like to begin.

[chess]

Yeah, hi...um, you're welcome and, please, call me John. I did wonder how long it would be before someone would want to speak with me. It's a pleasure being here. Yes, I'm fine, thank you. I'm ready when you are.

[THE INTERVIEWER]

Of course, John. I'd like to begin with some questions concerning your career. When did you know that you wanted to be a doctor? Was there specific inspiration? I know of several doctors who became doctors in order to help others or because they witness severe medical problems as children. Is that the same in your case, or was there another reason behind your career choice?

[chess]

My career? Interesting choice. Um, when did I know...ah, yes, when I was a young boy, during the time my father and I spent time with family in Gladstone, Australia. I'm not entirely sure what it was. Some people may see it as a sort of displaced career choice, my subconcious mind choosing something that I perhaps shouldn't: my father did have a few angry words about the medical profession when I was young. I attributed that to my mother's passing. I just genuinely wanted to help people. Being a doctor didn't seem like enough, it felt like I couldn't do enough, so I got the further training I needed and joined the army.

[THE INTERVIEWER]

So you joined the army in order to help more people than you could in a normal hospital. What position did you work before you joined the army? It would seem to me like an Emergency Room doctor would have plenty of opportunities to help people, more opportunities than private clinicians or specialized surgeons.

[chess]

Yes, precisely. It's a lot of hard work and I'm always looking for a challenge. Oddly enough, you're absolutely right. I did spend a lot of time working around the ER as a general practice doctor. It was the further training that lead me down a more surgical path, though I can't say I specialised at all. I was more use to the army as a surgeon, but I could still continue general health practices. I like the flexibility. If anyone asked me if I was medical or surgical, I think I'd be one of those rare instances where I wouldn't be able to give a totally straight answer.

[THE INTERVIEWER]

Would you say that working with the Army as medical personel allowed you to fulfill your need to help others or did it just perpetuate it? Working in such a violent environment surely couldn't have eased such an urge. If anything, it would just make the pain and destruction that the world suffers every day even more apparant.

[chess]

I think it kinda did both. I felt like I was helping people, but, just when I thought I was done, there would be something else to set me off. The sense of achievement was there, but it was like I was aiming for this untouchable goal. Anyone who doesn't already see the pain and suffering in the world needs to be checked over. Being out there...it's just a greater focus on the negative things in the world, things that normally get airbrushed over in day to day life.

[THE INTERVIEWER]

I understand perfectly. There are those that are more perceptive to the real world around them and there are those that look at it through rose colored glass. Everyone eventually sees the truth, though and you've seen it with extreme focus.

So, back to your being a doctor. Where and when did you study medicine?

[chess]

Not many people would see it like that, though it's certainly admirable that you do.

Gosh...urm, it was several years ago now, an even longer time if you consider I took an interest in medicine at college. The biggest step in my medical career was during my degree studies at the University of London over in England. After that, I had the specialised army surgeon training. It's been a fair few years now.

[THE INTERVIEWER]

I hardly think it's admirable to see the truth, but thank you anyway.

It's pretty clear that you are passionate about what you do considering the lengths you have gone to. If you weren't a doctor, though, what else would you be doing right now that you are equally passionate about? I know that you are good friends with the famous, or infamous depending on who you ask, Detective Sherlock Holmes. Is police work an area that interests you enough to have been pursued if practicing medicine hadn't worked out as it has?

[chess]

Well, at the point at which I could have thought medicine wouldn't work out, I didn't know Sherlock. If it had been a failed life choice, I don't think I would ever have met him. Kind of a catch 22 situation: had I not been successful in my chosen field, I wouldn't have met him and been exposed to a whole other potential field. Though, I can't deny that I'd take detective work as a new career choice if it came down to that.

[THE INTERVIEWER]

Concerning the good Detective, how did you two come to know each other initially and what has kept you two such close companions? It's widely known that Detective Holmes can be a little much to bear at times; eccentric and loud are two words that can easily discribe him. What about him as compelled you to stay friends with him?

[chess]

Well, it was through a mutual friend of ours, a friend whom I went to University with. He was a criminology student, but, at the time, I never thought much of the subject. It made for interesting discussion though. After my return from the army and return from my solitude, he knew I needed to find a job and suitable housing, which lead him to introducing me to Sherlock. It was strange adjusting to his habits, but I got there rather quickly, all things considered. Urm, I think it was being thrown together that kept us close. It was like being forced to work with a moody teenager at times: at first, it's the most difficult thing in the world, but it just gets easier as you adjust. He had an interesting way of dealing with things and that something I came to admire. His attention to detail is fantastic.

[THE INTERVIEWER]

Do you ever feel like you are in Detective Holmes's shadow? Often times the attention goes directly to him and you are left out of the limelight. Are you just one more forgotten sidekick like Sancho Panza from Don Quixote or the comic book icon, The Incredible Hulk's, sidekick Rick Jones?