Funky socks and finding your passion

Bryan Norkus, a physician at IU Health Family Medicine – West Lafayette, reflects on his career for Doctors' Day.

“It’s funny,” says Norkus, “I don’t have a great story about why I went into medicine, other than I followed my wife. When I was going into college, I really didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do. I had about a million things I wanted to do, and my wife was looking into the medical field. She’s a nurse…I was just like, ‘I guess I'll try this.’ And then that’s kind of where it went from there. But very early, [when I started] going into medical school, I knew this was what I was going to do.”

Norkus found his calling in family medicine.

“I think it’s the relationships,” he says. “I’m not really interested in anything procedural, like surgeries. Those were my worst rotations. But what I liked about [family medicine] is that you actually saw people over and over again. I can look at my schedule and say, ‘I know who this person is and what we talked about last time.’”

Beyond his medical expertise, Norkus is known for his unique hobbies.

“I wear different socks every day,” he says (note: at the time of this interview, he wore a pair of Squidward socks). “I have several patients who ask to see my socks before I start an exam. I’m also a knitter, and I share pictures of my knitting with several older patients. They share pictures of their knitting with me. I had someone bring their knitting in to get my opinion on it. Right now, I mostly knit blankets and scarves. I did scarves for everyone for Christmas, and I’m still finishing a few.”

Offering advice

For early physicians, Norkus acknowledges the challenges of starting a practice.

“It’s always kind of tough to start a practice,” he says. “There’s a lot of imposter syndrome that goes on. You feel like, ‘I’m just not sure I'm doing the right things.’ But at IU Health, they look to establish you in a practice with other providers who have been doing this longer. Everyone is happy to help a newer physician figure out how to do this. You're never really alone.”

He offers advice to medical students and residents, emphasizing the importance of perseverance and self-assurance: “First off, it gets better after the first two years. The first two years of medical school are just rough. It’s more just the academics, not a lot of patient-facing time. But when you’re going through medical school, everything is new and exciting. You have to think about the five and 10-year plan, ‘If I did this job, what would my life look like in 10 years? Am I going to be happy with that?’ If not, then you maybe need to look at something else.”

Reflecting on Doctors’ Day, he appreciates the recognition but remains humble.

“I spend more time worrying about the people working around me than myself,” says Norkus. “It’s always important that every physician has some type of positive affirmation of what they’re doing, no matter what they do.”