Today’s series of inane images:
[To make up for the serial silence, I thought I’d post a series of images that represent what has been going on in my life…]
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| While in Miami, I had the opportunity to meet the Keynote Speaker: Gloria Steinem! |
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| This was the view from our Sofitel Miami hotel room [except we didn’t spend any time outside…]. |
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| Dessert at the Anniversary Gala was amazing… |
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| We’ve started our last block of the M1 year: Respiratory. |
Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend the AMWA 97th Annual Meeting in Miami, FL — I had a wonderful time getting to know one of my classmates, meeting other AMWA members from across the country and listening to the insightful words of the session speakers. Dr. Remen‘s soft-spoken words from the Friday evening reception really stuck with me — she noted that many see the world as broken, as something that needs to be fixed… but suggested that we see the world is hidden and needs to be discovered. Additionally, another talk entitled “How to succeed in practice” started out with some basic advice: don’t burn out. The speaker then proceeded with minimalistic slides leading up to the main piece of advice: in order to succeed in practice, you have to love it. Although he essentially stated the obvious, the session was well-presented [i.e. comical and lighthearted] and I find that sometimes we just need to be reminded of what’s important to keep going when the going gets tough.
With the end of the M1 year quickly approaching, I keep wondering where I can find the “pause” button — I seem to need every moment of the day to attend lecture, complete assignments and keep up with extracurricular commitments. This essentially translates into our Respiratory material taking the backseat until [maybe] this weekend. Although I understand the need to test our competency with written assignments, sometimes I wonder about whether the timing of due dates was considered — we have a 4-5 page Literature Review paper due Monday and another 2-3 page Position Paper for PMH due on Wednesday. Sure, this doesn’t sound like much, but when I sat down and started to look into the assignments, I realized that they would take much more time than I seem to have.
The frequency of updates will be sparse in the upcoming weeks — we have 5 weeks left in the semester, but our block of 5-6 exams (depends on if you count the Anatomy Lab Practical) start in a little over 3 weeks. I’m sure that everything will magically work out and summer is right around the corner, but right now, in this moment, the future looks daunting.
Happily, I’m sure I’ll take some stress off tonight at our Med Ball — Social Committee has been working hard the last couple of months to make this a reality and I’m really excited to see all of their hard work pay off!
Until next time…
Hey Amanda,
I really enjoy reading your blog and the realities you present of life in medical school. I fear that my perfectionism and anxiety over the stresses of school will prevent me from working up the courage to enter the field of medicine, even though it is what I feel I am meant to do. Do you or anyone you know struggle with feelings of fear that you just won’t be able to handle everything? How do you overcome it? Keep writing:)
Cori
@Cori: Thanks for reading and commenting!
Most individuals that go into medicine share some perfectionist tendencies and anxiety [I think many times they go hand-in-hand] — but these traits are what drives us to push harder and ensure that there is a positive outcome. They end up being exactly what patients need, but can definitely make medical training very difficult to go through. Personally, I have definitely felt scared and sometimes doubted my own ability, but usually after talking to loved ones, I find the strength to keep pushing. You win some, you lose some; but one of the beauties of being human is our ability to adapt and overcome adverse situations.
This being said, if these feelings are truly keeping you from moving forward with your goals and aspirations, I would suggest talking with people that you trust and a counselor about them. Medicine could really be missing out on your contributions if you don’t find a way to push forward!
Good luck and I hope you see you around the blog more!