Grateful. If I could sum up my feelings about the last nine weeks, I would say that I am grateful. It is a privilege to be as stressed as I am right now; it is an honor to be worried about mastering the large amount of information I am being taught. There are so many individuals who have hoped and dreamed of being in my shoes but have not yet been given the chance, so I am grateful to be where I am today: in medical school.  

Nine weeks ago, I moved to a new city and started my 18th new school year. We had a week of orientation and just wrapped up our eighth week of classes today. We have already completed our first module (class) and are four weeks (a little over halfway) into the second one, so I figured it was past time for me to sit down and write an update for you all. 

Our curriculum structure can be a little confusing to understand. Rather than taking multiple classes simultaneously, we take our courses sequentially. We remain in one module (course) for a certain number of weeks with each week focusing on a different topic. For example, we are currently in our second module which will last for seven weeks. The module is called Musculoskeletal and one week our topic was arm control. Our schedule varies a little from week to week but below is an example of what a typical week looks like for anyone who is interested:

Orientation got the year off to a good start. We had a lot of information thrown at us but also had time to get to know each other and our professors. Let me just say, my classmates are incredible people, and everyone has been nothing but kind to each other. We have more of a collaborative spirit than competitive, which I am thankful for. 

Our campus dean welcomed us to the school bright and early the Monday of orientation week. She spoke about the ten traits she feels every medical student must have in order to succeed in both medical school and a career in medical practice. In no particular order, her ten traits were: 

1. Intelligence
2. Discipline
3. Adaptability
4. Humility
5. Team-player
6. Good attitude
7. Sense of humor
8. Confidence
9. Empathy
10. Drive/persistence 

After the last few humbling weeks, it is safe to safe that I need all of the intelligence, discipline, adaptability, and persistence I can muster, but I am hanging in there. Thankfully, even the most “boring” parts of medicine are still fairly interesting to me. The human body is amazing, and the more I learn about it, the more amazed I am at the sheer brilliance and incredible intelligence of our creator. 

For now, I am just taking things one week at a time. If I think too far ahead, it all gets overwhelming very quickly. I am certainly a lot closer now to making my dream a reality than I was at eight years old when I first decided I wanted to be a doctor when I grew up. Getting into medical school was certainly a big hurdle in the process of becoming a physician, but it was also just the beginning. One module down, ten more + clinical rotations + residency + board certifications to go.