What does a 175g of plastic have to do with being a doctor?

Often when people ask what I do outside of medicine, I tell them I play frisbee, and will often get a reply along the lines of: “Oh, like with your dog!”. While that is indeed one way of playing frisbee, I play the sport referred to as Ultimate (we couldn’t call it ‘frisbee’ because it’s technically a trademarked name). You might have heard of it from one of your mates at university or seen people playing in the park. Essentially, the game involves players passing a disc between each other and scoring by catching it in the endzone (a bit like rugby, minus the physical contact). If you drop the disc, or the defending team intercepts the disc mid-flight, that’s a turnover – the opposing team will then take possession and attempt to score. Also, you can’t run or walk with the disc, and you have to get rid of it within a 10-second stall count. 

While there are many other more nuanced rules in Ultimate, there are a couple of things that make this sport unique. Firstly, Ultimate is a self-refereed sport – yes, even at the professional level. Players are expected to uphold the ‘Spirit of the Game’ by having good knowledge of the rules and being able to discuss calls amongst each other on the pitch. As there are no referees, it is up to the individual players to make calls (e.g. a foul due to body contact or another player being out-of-bounds) and to reach a decision between each other as to how it affected the play. Conversely, you are also expected to own up if you yourself have infringed on the rules or retract an incorrect call on another player, even if it is to your own team’s detriment. Similarly, as doctors, we strive not only to maintain our patients’ trust in the healthcare system, but also to create a safe working environment for all of us to practice medicine in. We need to speak up when we see something wrong at work, from patient safety issues to bullying or harassment. And while it may be a tough pill to swallow, even we perfectionists make mistakes and we need to be honest with ourselves and admit that we are only human. 

The other thing that I love about Ultimate is that at the end of every game we have a spirit circle where both teams discuss how they felt about the match, things that went well versus what could be improved, and even tips for the opposing team. To me, this is not unlike the debrief huddles that we have after a cardiac arrest. It is a safe space that is free of blame or guilt. It is a chance to highlight things that we did well even in the face of a bad outcome and to address areas for improvement. Most importantly, it is a time for us to decompress after a high stress situation, to share our thoughts and feelings. As an FY1 doctor who has carried the arrest bleep and attended multiple emergencies as part of the crash team, these huddles have helped me get through the difficult calls, the ones where the patient does not survive despite our best efforts or the ones where emotions ran high, and I strongly advocate the importance of these debriefs for every team member involved, just like we do after every game of Ultimate whether we win or lose. 

Finally, it goes without saying that medicine is a team sport just like Ultimate. Being a doctor is tough, and we cannot do the work that we do without leaning on our colleagues for support. I started playing Ultimate in A-levels and continued to play with the university team during my years at medical school. It is so important to have ways to destress from medicine and I hope to continue chasing this plastic plate even as training becomes busier in the years to come. 

Dr Yin Sebastian Tan

F1, Scotland Foundation School

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