Welcome guys (and gals, of course),
Just dropping by on this site for the first time in a long time. On behalf of the Class of '08, welcome to med school at UTMB. I know there are quite a few of my colleagues occasionally dropping by here to offer words of wisdom. I come offering similar services, although the majority of you will not look at this board again after a few weeks into the actual program, due to preoccupation of other medical and social activities. For those of you in prematric, good luck and enjoy the experience. Don't get to hung up on the workload, just as the transition from mid school to high school then college, med school requires some adjustment, some catch on faster than others, but with much dedication, and an equal attempt to socialize and become acquainted with at least a few friends the first week out, you'll be on your way. For those who are not pre-matric, like I wasn't, don't feel like you're missing out and getting left stranded waiting for the next Ferry. While there are advantages, both social and academic, to acclimate early into medical school, it doesn't extinguish your chances of climbing up the medical totem pole. You get out what you put in and those GAR non-prematrics who were dedicated & hardworking stood equally bright alongside their prematric counterparts in WAC (which is just a fun, but helpful tool in prepping for exams) and written/practical exams alike. The concept of pre-matric is also only really "significant" when it comes to GAR, all bets are off when you proceed through the remaining courses. Each requiring fine adjusting of your learning and test taking skills to find what works for you. Your class is a venerable melting pot (which UTMB likes to boast would give NY a run for its money) and you will meet, if you haven't already, people (and personalities) you may have never met in your entire life. You will loves some, you will hate some, and the rest you will tolerate in the course of PBL sessions and what-not activities that the Assessment committee comes up with. Regardless, while I am always annoyed when I hear the phrase, "welcome to the real world"( sounds like some annoying catch-phrase created by an MTV show that continues to rot the minds of future generations as it did ours), there is some truth to the phrase that no amount of psycho-babble I can dish out at the moment which will get you to accept its true implications until you're good and ready. Profs will come and go, but interestingly the most animated and loveable bunch came from GAR. Although you will meet a bunch of memorable personas sprinkled throughout the remainder of Year 1, both in lectures and PBL, alike. It's good to vent, but don't waste developing an overwhelming hatred for this person that you will likely never interact with again. Dance to the piper's tune, participate and play nice with the other kids in PBL, decide how much HP or H is worth to you and put in the corresponding amount of work in preparing for exams. Don't get me wrong, what you learn here is important, as I'm sure many of you would roll your eyes and say "duh", but seriously, don't get so wrapped up in Honors, High-Pass, crap that the Administration and Academia must label our work for the sake of appeasing the "Innovative Assessment" gods. What got me through the year, was thinking of "one day, a patient's life is going to depend on my knowledge of this concept, and while it may seem really insignificant now, it can shed light to alot of future concepts I've yet to learn and will inevitably help me in becoming a good doctor for my patients". Which, med school interview or not, I can only hope that each one of you has that goal of helping your patients somewhere in your "top 3" reasons you signed up for this. Sure, you're going to care about grades, that's what the system perpetuates, and unfortunately, you will be prone to competition, because there's only a limited number of spots reserved for Honors in each course and only top 50% (give or take) are granted High-Pass. Good grades = good residency= good position = Happiness, right? (while I wouldn't use equals, but more accurately, contributes to the next, the last part of that equation definitly has alot more factors (non-academic) that some of you can already appreciate. I did the whole grad school thing already (I have my doctorate in pharmacy) and yeah if we run into each other and you're actually interested, I'll tell you that story, but when it comes down to it. Those two letters granted to you after 4 years of med school means you qualify to be an apprentice for further training into a specialty. The residency certificate and that medical liscence you pay $2000 bucks and about 10 years of your life for provides you an opportunity to practice Medicine. Where you take it from there, is your call. You don't get a magic ticket that says "Redeem for Perfect husband/wife, kids, mortgage, job, car, retirement plan...dentures". So, live life while you're in med school. I'm not promoting debauchery any chance you get or anything like that, but I'm saying is that friends will really make this experience worthwhile, and at times you will regard them as your only lifesaver from a complete melt-down. A few of my colleagues can even attest that some of them met a potential candidate for perfect husband/wife during this med school experience. So, go forth and learn to be good doctors, but meet and mingle with your colleagues along the way. Yes, I know that this won't stop the inevitable existence of gunners, dinguses,bitches, and the per usual group of "immature-how-the-hell-did-you-get-into-med-school-go-back-to-first-grade"from sprouting in your class, but you'll see those folks post med school too (just ask your parents lol), just learn to deal/ignore, focus on the goal at hand, which is noble in nature, and get ready because it's going to be a bumpy ride/life. I'm not promising you won't get disenchanted along the way and question why you decided to pursue this profession, but I can promise moments during your training and practice, wherein experiences with patients will remind you of the reason. Anyways, I'm here, I think some of my peeps are around, throw us questions (although some I may answer as worry-about-it-when-you-cross-that-bridge). Otherwise, good luck to you all! And time for a shameless advertisement for you to check out AIM (Alliance in Internal Medicine) an amazing organization, co-run by yours truly, looking for a few good future doctors to entertain with guest speakers aplenty (whose big names you will come to realize later lol), opportunities to learn and hone clinical skills, more networking and socializing, med publications via email and snail mail, and much much more for an affordable (even for us dirt-poor-med-students) price. Come one come all!
Okay end post-modern dissertation. Let the games begin! *climbs off soap box*
PS: *pulls out a megaphone* one more, thing, if you're some 20-21 y/o wanting to disregard this message then nothing more than some diatribe of some pharmacist suffering from a mid-life crisis--reality check- I'm 24, and there are alot of students in my class who've taken a break post-undergrad to do research, raise a family,work, travel, military, live life, go to grad school, and some have become really great friends of mine. They have a wealth of experience to offer and phenomenal dedication to their family and their future patients. So, I don't care, if you're Doogie Howser's brother/sister, if you're going to be one of those people who boasts how young they are, all you're really getting across is how immature you are. Get off your perceived high horse, and treat each other like colleagues, you just might learn something worthwhile.
(In my best Dr. Collins impersonation) --that is all.
Later,
Harold
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