ODESSA, Texas (AP) — The deeper you get into the medical profession, says Dr. Matthew Brian Furst, the more apparent it becomes that it is a life like no other.

The Odessa American reports the rewards are supreme and the stresses excruciating and you mustn't be too enamored of the former or caught up in the latter, says Furst, the latest in a line of physicians dating to the 19th century.

"It's a club you don't understand until you get into it," he said. "Everybody has their ghosts in medicine and you either learn to deal with it or you will go nuts. I think you just store it. It's similar to...