OK, second year is over and I'm studying for the Boards and the wedding is in less than a month and we had a super-fantastic engagement photo shoot last night and I did my final dress fitting this afternoon and we're moving to an exciting new apartment in July, and I really will try to catch up on all of that, but another amazing thing just happened that I need to share right now: I got accepted to attend a 3-day conference offered by the American Medical Student Association in Washington, D.C., that is all about writing in medicine!
A physician who helps to facilitate the poetry group that I joined this year (and who is an amazing surgeon, poet, and person; an idol of mine, really) forwarded some information about the conference to students interested in the humanities. The application deadline was 4 days away, but when I visited the website, I began writing my essay immediately; I couldn't believe that a conference geared so perfectly toward my interests even existed. (Check out the website to see for yourself; it's got Becky written all over it: http://www.amsa.org/AMSA/Homepage/EducationCareerDevelopment/AMSAAcademy/WI.aspx)
I am one of 24 students accepted, and I will be participating in the prose track. (The other options were poetry and journalism.) There are workshops and seminars and small-group sessions with peer feedback and critique. The only catch is that I'd have to miss a day and a half of my internal medicine rotation. I emailed the dean about 5 seconds after getting the acceptance email (and calling Mom & Dad, obviously), so I'll be waiting anxiously to receive her response.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go burst with happiness.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Open Letter to the Doctor Who Did My Physical Exam at the Student Health Clinic This Morning
Dear Dr. S---,
You walked into the exam room without knocking. You didn't introduce yourself. By way of greeting, you demanded, "What do I have to sign?"
I know that just checking to make sure I'm healthy enough to enter my third year of medical school and start seeing patients is probably incredibly boring and annoying; I'm sure it's not what you aspired to do as you to studied medicine. I know you can probably guess that I am in good health just by looking at my vital signs and overall appearance. But couldn't you have listened to all four of my heart valves rather than just three? And couldn't you have listened to more than two of the five lobes of my lungs? Yes, I am healthy, but if I weren't, you could easily have missed something.
What about the rest of the exam? Did you decide it was safe to assume I have no swollen lymph nodes, no tenderness in my abdomen, no abnormal reflexes, no back problems? Or did you just not care enough to do these things or to even say "Goodbye" or "You're welcome" as you flew out the door?
Maybe you had just finished with a difficult patient or maybe you were having a bad day. Either way, I want to thank you for signing off on my health form. Thank you, also, for reminding me exactly what kind of doctor I don't want to become.
Becky
You walked into the exam room without knocking. You didn't introduce yourself. By way of greeting, you demanded, "What do I have to sign?"
I know that just checking to make sure I'm healthy enough to enter my third year of medical school and start seeing patients is probably incredibly boring and annoying; I'm sure it's not what you aspired to do as you to studied medicine. I know you can probably guess that I am in good health just by looking at my vital signs and overall appearance. But couldn't you have listened to all four of my heart valves rather than just three? And couldn't you have listened to more than two of the five lobes of my lungs? Yes, I am healthy, but if I weren't, you could easily have missed something.
What about the rest of the exam? Did you decide it was safe to assume I have no swollen lymph nodes, no tenderness in my abdomen, no abnormal reflexes, no back problems? Or did you just not care enough to do these things or to even say "Goodbye" or "You're welcome" as you flew out the door?
Maybe you had just finished with a difficult patient or maybe you were having a bad day. Either way, I want to thank you for signing off on my health form. Thank you, also, for reminding me exactly what kind of doctor I don't want to become.
Becky
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