Standard Deviation: Louis Chang on checking out the detours and leaving no regrets

As a young person, Louis Chang would make lists. Lists of long term, mid-term, and short-term goals as well as the daily tasks that he needed to do to achieve them. When he didn’t finish his daily list, he would push it to another day. One major goal was medical school right after college. But after a less than stellar grade in his intro chem class, he felt his chances at med school were over. A momentary detour afforded him the opportunity to take a range of other classes from government to German, but he actually stuck with chemistry as a major, facing the challenge head on. The breadth of experiences he had during college and his true interest for organic chemistry, however, made him question his original idea of medical school so he didn’t even take the MCATs before graduating. Instead, he worked in a chem lab at the NIH, almost pursued a PhD, and ultimately realized bench science was a little too isolating.Unsure what was next, he tried his hand at a law firm in DC but pretty soon he knew that wasn’t the right fit either and finally applied to med school. The mix of tenacity and a willingness to try something new came in handy again when he actually did follow the to-do list toward his anticipated speciality, only to find out life had other plans. In this episode, find out from Louis how checking out the detours can help you leave no regrets …on today's Roads Taken with Leslie Jennings Rowley. About This Episode’s GuestLouis Chang a neurosurgical spine specialist with expertise in minimally invasive surgery for spinal disorders. He also is an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Medicine. For another story about navigating the path to the medical life that feels right (this time in urology!), listen to our episode with George Huang. Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings RowleyMusic: Brian BurrowsEmail the show at RoadsTakenShow@gmail.com