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In the song Crazy Lucky, Better Than Ezra's Kevin Griffin sings, "There are so many reasons that we shouldn't have met/I could've turned right when you turned left". Those words may comprise a simple couplet from a pop song, but they speak to a great truth: our lives can be changed forever by seemingly inconsequential decisions.
Over the past weeks, we've seen at least four threads initiated by premedical students who let ambition, fear, and/or foolishness spur them to make poor decisions. Once those missteps came to light, the posters found their futures had become very uncertain. They may pay the price for those mistakes for years, perhaps even decades. As they learned to their dismay, one apparently small and secret decision may have very far-reaching consequences.
Small decisions may also have profoundly beneficial results. In mid-October 2004, on the last day primary applications could be submitted, I sent my AMCAS application to two additional reaches and a backup. I was accepted to one of those reaches, where I earned my medical degree. While I was at that school, I met an Army recruiter and an anesthesiology resident who each changed my life. The resident opened my eyes to a field I'd never considered. The recruiter helped me commit to serve in our nation's military. The Army moved me to places I otherwise never would have visited. I met my best friend during my residency. My wife and I ended up settling down in an area we otherwise wouldn't have thought of, with me on the faculty of a medical school that wouldn't have been on my radar. That decision to add three schools to my application in 2004 altered the whole course of my life.
My reason for sharing these thoughts is to encourage myself and every one of you to be thoughtful in making our decisions during this new year. The symbolism of the new year as a clean slate may be an artificial construct of the calendar, but we can still harness it as an opportunity to abandon bad habits, create good ones, right wrongs, address injustices, study and work harder, let go of past disappointments, and build on present and future hopes. As we choose our actions this year, let us all remember:
May each of us have a happy and prosperous 2018!
Over the past weeks, we've seen at least four threads initiated by premedical students who let ambition, fear, and/or foolishness spur them to make poor decisions. Once those missteps came to light, the posters found their futures had become very uncertain. They may pay the price for those mistakes for years, perhaps even decades. As they learned to their dismay, one apparently small and secret decision may have very far-reaching consequences.
Small decisions may also have profoundly beneficial results. In mid-October 2004, on the last day primary applications could be submitted, I sent my AMCAS application to two additional reaches and a backup. I was accepted to one of those reaches, where I earned my medical degree. While I was at that school, I met an Army recruiter and an anesthesiology resident who each changed my life. The resident opened my eyes to a field I'd never considered. The recruiter helped me commit to serve in our nation's military. The Army moved me to places I otherwise never would have visited. I met my best friend during my residency. My wife and I ended up settling down in an area we otherwise wouldn't have thought of, with me on the faculty of a medical school that wouldn't have been on my radar. That decision to add three schools to my application in 2004 altered the whole course of my life.
My reason for sharing these thoughts is to encourage myself and every one of you to be thoughtful in making our decisions during this new year. The symbolism of the new year as a clean slate may be an artificial construct of the calendar, but we can still harness it as an opportunity to abandon bad habits, create good ones, right wrongs, address injustices, study and work harder, let go of past disappointments, and build on present and future hopes. As we choose our actions this year, let us all remember:
May each of us have a happy and prosperous 2018!
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