If they were your children, you'd be pretty proud. And in a way, they are--and you should be. They're sharp as tacks, of course, or they wouldn't be where they are already, nor would they have the potential they have to go all the places they're probably going to go. They're compassionate and they're committed, too, to using their skills to accomplish great things. Indeed, they have big plans to change their profession and, in so doing, to change our world as well. They are the next generation of physicians, the men and women who think so much of the example you've set that they've followed in your educational footsteps, and will soon tread the same professional path, hoping to give as much to medicine as you have, and to inspire generations to come as you have them.

It's interesting: In all our interviews with current medical students, not one mentioned the earning power of being a doctor in practice. Not a single medical student we spoke to brought up the prestige of medicine. Not one talked of owning a chain of clinics or starting a hospital company designed by doctors, for doctors. In fact, none of them even talked about attacking particular diseases or conditions. They talk, instead, of helping their fellow man. Of improving people's lives by improving their health. Of leaving the planet a better place than it was when they found it. Of course, it's no secret that medicine doesn't hold the economic promise it may have 25 years ago. But it's also true that society has always counted on the enthusiasm of its youth to create its future--and ours is in good hands. Perhaps the idealism will fade; perhaps the quest for universal coverage and elimination of barriers to access will diminish over time. But for now, Southern California medical students are flush with drive, determination and a powerful desire to use what they've learned in positive ways.

Just listen to Brian Moseley, a Class of 2008 graduate of Loma Linda University who will enter a neurology residency at the Mayo Clinic in the fall: "In this global age, it's possible for physicians to shape more than the individual lives of their patients. Some of my colleagues will shape their profession by performing missionary work, bringing medical technology and techniques to all corners of the world. Others will leave their mark by entering the arena of public health, devising standards for all of us to follow. For me, clinical education will likely be the pathway upon which I leave my mark. I've had the honor of working with clinicians who make it their mission to train the next generation of doctors. Being able to fulfill a similar calling would be a dream come true."

Remember being that invested in your profession? In your potential? In your own ability to make meaningful change? Ask Sonia Lohiya--a Class of 2008 student at the University of California, Los Angeles who's been matched for a psychiatry residency at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience--if she's optimistic about medicine, even in the face of all the negative buzz around reimbursement, administrative hassles and insurer interference. "Yes!" she says. "My peers are more motivated than ever as they prepare to battle the newfound challenges of their future specialties. But for all the crises in healthcare today, young physicians are steadfast in their resolve to improve the human condition. I personally cannot see myself working in any other arena than this. And here I am now, preparing for my graduation as another eager young MD ready to take on the world!" It's almost infectious, isn't it?

Jacqueline Ho, a first-year medical student at the University of California, Irvine, says she determined to become a doctor in part for the opportunity to use the in-depth knowledge she'd gather in school to help sick people get better. But she emphasizes as well that doctors have both a healing role and "the opportunity to be agents of social change in the healthcare and public health arena." And that's what she and her peers seem to value most: that opportunity to make things happen, to be a catalyst for improvement. Katherine Chiu is a fourth-year medical student at UCI and a 2009 MBA candidate at the Merage School of Business there as well. She echoes much of Ho's sentiment--and that of many in her situation--when she says she likes medicine because it's tough, but worth the effort. She longed for a challenging, intellectually stimulating career, she says, and few rows are harder to hoe than the 25 or 30 years you spend in undergrad, med school, residency and internships. But she also wanted a career that's more than just a career. "If you treat it like a job, you'll go crazy," she says. "Much of what I expect to get out of being a doctor will be intangible. I'm looking forward to practicing because I love it."