July 31, 2008

It is the end of my first week at medical school, which has been a mix of emotions from the day I found out that I got into school in April. I have waited so long to get to this point, so needless to say I am overjoyed and happy to be here, but if I didn't say I was a little nervous I would be lying. I figure the nerves will help keep me focused and motivated.

There has been a variety of things happening this week, from meeting classmates to the beginnings of class work. We are all learning on different levels to adjust to school life again. For me, the adjustment is just back to school in general, which means physically having class in a classroom with classmates. I have been working on my MPH online for the past year, which has been an incredible experience, but it is definitely different than attending class again.

Orientation has been going on all week. Today was exciting and educational for me because it was a time for us to really share research and personal experiences on a number of topics. I learned so many things about cultural differences that I would not have gotten the chance to experience if it weren't for the incredible diversity of our class. We all tend to block out the bad in other countries or become ignorant to the struggles they go through because we become too invested in ourselves. I didn't realize the cultural issues and stigmas associated with HIV/AIDs in Africa. It is so hard for those of us in the US and health care field to believe that individuals can be so ignorant to real health concerns. Shirley talked about how individuals believe that if they take certain local drugs or follow certain acts that they are immune to the disease. Among so many other beliefs, it is easy to see how the disease is spreading and causing so many casualties.

Today was also very exciting for me because we got to start learning medical skills. It may seem like a simple thing, but getting to start working on the physical exam and professionalism behind our new profession was so exciting. I had a great time learning and applying the MMSE to one of my classmates to assess their cognitive status. In addition, picking up our white coats and getting our equipment made everything very real, in a very exciting and good way. I had a great time experimenting with my equipment on my dog and my parents. However, dogs are not the best patients when it comes to examining the ears or eyes:)

I am ready for the white coat ceremony and making things even more official then they already are today. The finality, in some sense, of the white coat ceremony really brings together everything from this week and helps us look towards our futures as physicians.