Wow! There is a month left in my second year of medical school! On the first day of orientation, I felt as though this day was an eternity away, at it would take forever before I stated clinical rotations. Looking back, it seems to have gone so quickly. It’s a bit unreal to think of all of the information that we have learned since starting medical school. We started, wide-eyed and optimistic, with biochemistry. Now we are wrapping up our final systems courses and preparing to take boards and start rotations.
It is definitely an exciting time for our class. We are getting ready to step into the world of real medicine, see real patients, do real procedures, and continue to learn so much more than we thought possible. We will be leaving behind the security of hours of lecture a day, and multiple exams each week, and the somewhat predictable life that comes along with it. We are trading all of that in for crazy hours in new, unfamiliar places, situations in which our decisions will truly matter, and taking on responsibility for people other than just ourselves.
I admit there is a certain amount of nerves that go along with the prospect of starting clinical rotations. Uncertainty and insecurity start to creep in if I think about it too long. With all of that said, and with nearly two years of medical school under my belt, I honestly feel like I am ready and well prepared to take this next step in my medical education. I feel I have been taught what I need to learn in our courses, and I believe that our clinical faculty has equipped us with valuable information and insight that will help us all be successful as we step into this new venture.
As I look forward to the new and unknown, I want to take a minute to say how glad I am to have been a part of this University, and the DO Class of 2015. It has been amazing getting to know all of you, learning from you, and struggling (at times) right along with you. I have learned so many things from my classmates, not just medically related, but about people and life. Some of the most valuable lessons I have learned since I have been here have been from you all. I look forward to working with those of you that will still be around town and continuing to grow and learn with you. To those who will be elsewhere, I wish you the best of luck. You are all a great bunch of people, and will make great doctors one day. It has been a privilege to study alongside of you.
