1st Year, 2nd Semester - Ride the Wave!

I should begin this by saying that I love medical school. I really do. The more I'm learning about the human body and mind the more amazed I become. It is a miracle that we as human beings function. Did you know, for example, that every one of the 37 trillion-plus cells in your body are, even as you read this, creating (or destroying) 2000 proteins a second?  Way cool! Or, did you know that we humans have more bacteria cells in and on our bodies than we have of our own cells? Think of THAT next time you feel grungy....

Knowing and learning all of this is wonderful. One downside of medical school, though, is the reality that it becomes, by necessity, nearly all consuming. As this first year is drawing to a close (only 74 more school days left!), school builds upon itself and becomes bigger and bigger, a tsunami of "high yield knowledge" for which we are increasingly accountable. This massive wave dominates one's time and threatens to overwhelm every aspect of life - thoughts, dreams, even relationships. It is essential to be able to strike balance in one's life! I'm learning that, at least for me, becoming a physician is not a job - it's a calling. It's a transformation of myself into a new person. I hadn't been warned of this powerful force of change before applying to professional school.

I guess the take home message is this: my classmates and I are becoming healers. Complete strangers will come to us for comfort, answers, healing, hope. This is a profound responsibility and humbling honor. To become this source of skill and knowledge requires a profound sacrifice. For the sake of my future patients this is a sacrifice I welcome.

I love medical school.

courtesy of www.brasilwallpaper.blogspot.com