We’ve all heard the adage “Physician Heal Thyself”. This ancient proverb was originally intended as an admonition to mind one’s own problems rather than advising others on theirs. Physicians (even ancient world ones) have always been notoriously bad at taking care of others’ “business” before their own. Physicians’ own needs often come last in the hierarchy of demands. But this concept has broader implications in today’s world, and physicians really do need to work on “healing” themselves. The concept of “self-care” has become an important one because physician suicide is on the rise.
It might seem odd then to say that for this particular physician/writer, firearms, rather than being a “suicide risk” during times of stress, actually provide a much needed outlet and social support.
At my residency graduation dinner, a wise physician mentor reminded my graduating class of the importance of having friends outside of the medical community. He emphasized that as we launched into our careers, having experiences outside of medicine would provide much-needed perspective and change of mental gears. He reminded us that as busy physicians we would need to come up for air occasionally and get a look around at the real world.
I have found that the shooting sports and associated comaraderie provide me with such friends and social support.
Time spent at shooting matches with friends has never been a wasted effort. Though my scores have often left room for improvement, the experience of mutual support, mutual ribbing and joking, and “shop talk” about calibers and features has never left me wanting for laughs and common interests. I have had more fun standing in the pouring rain with friends on the range than one could ever imagine. As the saying goes, “A crummy day at the range beats a good day at the office”.
In the same way, time spent afield with trusted hunting friends or alone in the woods in a ground blind can be wonderful therapy.
The scent of freshly spent shotgun shells combined with the smell of damp earth in the Autumn is a tonic to the spirit – especially while watching a good bird dog work a field.
The smell of pine trees and dead leaves, with a half moon shaded by misty clouds as a guide to the ground blind can be a positively spiritual experience for an exhausted soul.
Greeting the sunrise, breath steaming in air that crinkles the nostrils, while the birds slowly awaken in the trees, is a slice of heaven.
Even when the only “quarry” is Autumn Olive berries, my time outdoors in nature provides much-needed recharging, while the S&W .357 on my hip provides some personal security when alone in the woods.
The real world perspective that my firearms experience has given me also reminds me that not every predator lives in the woods and walks on four legs. The self-defense end of firearms training has given me some different perspectives from that of my pediatric colleagues.
While most pediatricians tend to be the sensitive and kind-hearted type, I’ve learned that my own nature in that direction has limits. If it comes down to my life or that of a predator, I will do my best to make sure that the predator doesn’t win. This is because I have been taught that my OWN life has value too. This has been the biggest blessing that my association with the firearms community has bestowed upon me – the lesson of valuing my OWN life and providing me with the means to defend it.
From my perspective, firearms have not been the evil death-dealing public health “disease” that Organized Medicine would have the public believe. Rather for me, firearms have provided life-affirming opportunities and friendships. Firearms have provided the means of saving my own life – both literally and figuratively.
I have AR-15’s, bolt guns and AK-47’s, knowing this my wife asks why I need another rifle. In her mind the XCR can fill the roles of most of my other guns. She is right. If I could only have one gun the XCR-M would be at the top of my list. It is portable and accurate. It is chambered calibers capable of penetrating light masonry, wood, and level 3 body armor. It can be used for hunting, survival, and excels in the designated marksman rifle category which is the role I chose for my XCR.
The standard trigger works and feels great, however in the marksman role I would like to see a lighter, crisper feel to it. Standard AR-15 triggers do not fit the XCR so the only options are to have a gunsmith modify it or send the gun back to 
I picked up several brands for my testing ammunition because I wanted to see how the rifle would function with a wide variety of rounds. My selection included Remington 168gr Matchking BTHP, Armscor, Hornady Black 168gr A-MAX, Lapua Scenar 155gr HPBT, and some military surplus all chambered in .308 win. I had watched several older reviews and was expecting accuracy to be about 1 minute of angle (moa).
The Hornady, Remington and Armscor performance did not disappoint either. Remington and Hornady both averaged 3/4 moa. Armscor came in 4th with an average of 1 moa. I did not get any group data on the surplus ammo as I had some feeding and extraction issues. I thought it might need to oil the gun a bit, but before I did that I fired some more of the Armscor through it with no feeding issues.