“You are good. But it is not enough just to be good. You must be good for something. You must contribute good to the world. The world must be a better place for your presence.
And the good that is in you must be spread to others.”
-Gordon B. Hinckley

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Week 1: August 13, 2010


Welcome to medical school! Here is your brand new ipad, oh and don't forget to pick up your white coat and stethoscope as you walk off the stage.

Yep. That's kind of how it went for me. After five years of undergraduate study, late hours of MCAT preparation in the library, hundreds of hours of research and volunteer service I was honored with the symbol that every pre-medical student covets: a free 16GB 3G ipad (the white coat did come with it too).

Sarcasm aside, I am very excited about starting medical school and the ipad will make my back happy since all of our texts will be on it. It came as a complete surprise to me. Since we all got our ipads, the past few days have been a little confusing with both faculty and students trying to figure out how to incorporate these oversize ipods in the medical curriculum, but with time and the new iOS4 coming we hope they will be useful tools for us.

The few days of orientation were great. It was a great time to get to know my classmates (all 100 of them), the faculty, and the curriculum. During orientation, we heard from many of the different deans as well as the second year (MS2=medical student year 2)class presidents. They spoke about maintaining balance in your life and having fun while in med school. Also, they told us that the days of competition are now over, especially since the first two years are Pass/Fail. They told us that we are a big family and need to help each other. The faculty stressed the importance of taking time to relax amidst all of the studying. Basically, the theme of orientation: you wouldn't have been accepted into med school if we didn't think you could handle it. What a relief. Not that I was worried that I wouldn't be able to "hack" med school, but it is great to finally be at an institution where instead of trying to get the highest grade, it is more important to learn (what an ingenious concept!).

After orientation, we had our first three days of class. The roughest part was sitting in the same lecture hall for 4 hours without a substantial break. I hadn't done that since 6th grade! The worst part was the absence of leg room (apparently when they installed the seats they didn't think humans would be over 5' 10''). On a positive note, the lectures were interesting and well done. Each day, once the lectures ended, all of us students would migrate to the medical education building (MedEd) to study for our first exam that will be held Monday. Since it is the beginning of the year, many other med students are still in undergraduate mode with studying and were trying to memorize every detail, like receptor-mediated endocytosis. Once we've taken a few more exams, their study habits will change because, after all, the only way to drink out of a fire hydrant is by sipping a little water here and a little water there.

2 comments:

  1. I hope that what the professors said (life balance, enjoy learning, etc.) actually proves true.

    And congrats again on the iPad. Truly a sign that Irvine was the right choice.

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  2. I am happy for you! take it all in, and remember to always kiss your wife good night!

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