1st Day At Medical School!! Orientation Takeaways

So it turns out orientation with future healthcare professionals isn't too much different than orientation anywhere else. Though it was fascinating to meet a vast array of people with different skillsets, cultures, and ambitions, the actual events of the day were what's to be expected at an orientation. They sat the med school students, the nursing school students, pharmacy students, physician's assistants, and Masters of Public Health students in an auditorium and numerous staff members at the school spoke about commitment to healthcare, different school resources, strategies for paying off exorbitant student debt, community service opportunities, career services, student activities and clubs , study strategies, etc. Boring stuff basically that I won't drone on about.

The usual, slightly awkward ice-breakers were implemented. With about 200 of us in a room, they asked us to get in groups based on birth month, and for all the groups to be ordered in line from January to December, from one side of the room to another. To add an extra layer of extra fun ice-breaking, they gave us bingo cards with traits in each square like "left handed" or "has a green thumb" or "was born outside the US" to have us find people that fit the bill that would sign on the bingo card. Cool.....

Even though there was an element of triviality to the orientation and the speeches given today, and maybe they dragged it on a bit (From 7 A.M. to 5 P.M.), there was also a familiarity about it that made me feel comfortable. Because I was already acquainted with a lot of the topics they were talking about, I felt able to ease in, sometimes zone out, and really let the fact that I'm on route to becoming a doctor hit me. Since I haven't been nailed by the tireless studying just yet, I'm still in a bit of a honeymoon faze--an elevated state of self-pride that I feel I should soak in for now. There are a number of doctors in my family, my Dad was a neurosurgeon, Mom's a radiation oncologist, and soon enough I'll specialize, do my residency and join them in their pursuit of improving the lives of others in a medical setting. I'm proud. Is pride really a sin? Doesn't the sinfulness of pride depend on what you're proud of? Like if someone was proud of cheating on his wife, maybe that could be regarded as sinful (well that would be doubly sinful I guess- 1 sin for cheating, and another for being proud of it). You get my point. There is nothing wrong with being proud of doing good.

I feel slightly empty-handed here because I have no photos to offer. I didn't want to be that student taking snaps every few minutes. That said, I met a lot of interesting people: an Indian girl with 2 cats with a huge interest in infectious disease, who told me about an experiment she used to run on Kissing Bugs in Panama that carry an infectious bacteria that can cause Chagas Disease. This is the Kissing Bug she was referring to.

She told me that her job involved her mashing the bug with a mortar and pestle into a "slurry", which made me laugh and made me ponder. I met a solemn and serious man, around 30, from Eritrea who moved here in 2010 and managed to work his way to pharmacy school. And I spent a significant amount of time with a cultured fellow who lives in Oakland with his girlfriend in a house inherited from parents. He just started in a 1-year Masters program that gears students for medical school, and seemed to be very enthusiastic. Really the day involved a lot of the usual, "what major?", "what school?", "where are you from?", "what program are you in?", "Oh, you transferred?", "are you excited?", but like I said before, the familiarity of it all was kind of comforting.

I'm satisfied, at least for now, with where I am in life. If I can manage to have any patient look at me the way Jorah Mormont looks at Samuel Tarly here, I'll be happy. (Don't watch if you're not current with GOT).

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You can expect me to continue tracing an outline for you of my path through med school!

Peace fellow Steemians,

Steemmate