I'm really liking it here. The area is beautiful and the campus is very pretty. There are a lot of trees and a lake and A LOT OF TREES! Near my apartment there's the beach and it's all residential so it's a nice area to live in. I have class generally the entire day from 9-5. We get a lunch break from 12-1 so that's usually nice (obviously to get some studying in haha!) We have a major exam coming up Monday (come to think of it, I'm probably typing this now so I can avoid studying for it..oh well)
(ahh why is there candy corn in that picture?! I don't even like candy corn!)
So news in my life...I WENT TO SEE THE COLBERT REPORT TAPING!!! It was AMAZING! Seriously, one of the best experiences of my life! He was so nice and funny and charming. There is something so amazing about him. I don't know. All I know is I'm obsessed. He shook my hand and gave me a high five. The entire taping I wasn't able to pay attention to the stuff he was saying; I was just distracted by staring at his face. I'd laugh when other people laughed. The interview the day I went was Ang Lee. He seemed like a nice guy! Overall it was a GREAT experience! I hope I get the chance to go again at some point in the future but I'm so grateful that I was able to go once!!
So, being at medical school has triggered a lot of reform ideas in my mind. The system has its flaws and I hope when I am in academic medicine I am able to help fix it, at least a little. I find that some of the professors (and I think this is a universal thing) are still testing us as if we are undergrads. The stupid rote memorization of meaningless facts that we're going to forget an hour after the exam is not the path to becoming a great physician. A good one maybe but not great. I think the very thing that defines brilliance in the field is thinking analytically. The doctors that amaze me are the ones who can connect seemingly unrelated ideas or symptoms and get a cohesive picture out of it. I think those are the skills we should be learning right now, not necessarily every enzyme in some pathway. I guess I've always been a conceptual learner and the memorization bit seems to be getting old after so many years. And what's funny is that most professors will even say that we need to think about the big picture and see things in perspective, and yet they will test us on the details! It doesn't make sense! I think that's an issue that I really want to have changed and when it's in my hands, I will do something about it.
The coolest thing about medical school is anatomy. We have started dissecting and we've already gotten to the point where we take out the lungs and heart. It's pretty cool. And I learned that I am ambidextrous when it comes to using a scalpel! I like to learn anatomy (even outside the gross gross lab) because it just makes sense. You can see the function of the things you are memorizing and it all comes together when you think about the human body's needs. I find it interesting and plus, it's just SO much fun dissecting haha!
Actually I've found that a lot in my reaction to things--I really like when things all fit in together nicely. When we're taught things that make sense in a larger scale it's always satisfying. I don't think I dislike any subject just because the way it's taught, it's all relevant. We're not being lectured on things that won't affect us AT ALL. I mean granted this education isn't gonna get me far as a doctor, but at least the things we are learning about will be encountered by one of the student doctors in my class. So it's all relevant to some extent. Even the most obscure things don't seem like a waste of time, just because at some point in someone's life, that one obscure thing may be everything.
One of my strongest motivations to study right now is the idea of future patients. Everything I am learning is not about the grades or about me. It won't matter what specialty I go into because I will be touching people's lives no matter what. I want to learn as much as possible because someday people are going to be putting their lives in my hands. I need to be prepared to deal with that responsibility and so I am not okay with just passing. I just want to try my hardest to do the best I possibly can and not settle for less because 'it's still passing'. There's a higher responsibility right now and the focus has shifted away from me.
It's weird being away from home with so many people living there. Whenever I call home I usually only talk to my mom or my siblings. It's not often that I talk to any of the other relatives. But last night when I called my aunt really wanted to talk to me. It's so nice to remember that I have such a huge support system at home. It's easy to forget that when I'm caught up in the day to day activities here but I have to make it a point to remember.
My sister leaves for college on Sunday! I can't believe she's already going! It's kinda crazy to think of how old I am--in terms of age, education, place in life. It's nice that I'm able to give her some advice on things I learned along the way. Hopefully she can learn things an easier way because of that. I know we all have our own burdens to carry and obstacles to overcome but it's nice when we're able to help each other out along the way. I know she will be fine and hopefully she knows it too! I remember when I left home for the first time...the anticipation seriously sucked more than anything. Once I was at school and made friends, within a week I was happy where I was. But man, the days leading up to the big move can be so tough! I guess it's all part of the learning process.
Speaking of learning process, it's been great posting again and I think I'm gonna stick to doing it as a release. It's nice to be able to reflect and write out how I feel about things. Especially because the people I've become friends with here still don't know me as well and there's things that I wouldn't tell them yet. So it's nice to have this outlet and I'm regretting not having considered it in the past two weeks! Ah well, time to get back to my studying! Carpe diem =)
