Unified ocean

Picture yourself standing on cliff of an island. Imagine a storm pouring down on the ocean. Now picture yourself being in it and watching the rain pour down on the ocean and creating that blurry haze from seeing that island in the distance but at the same time, feeling completely connected with the ocean in the pouring rain. I was there. I closed my eyes, to make sure it was all real. And it was. After that I jumped into the warm, Caribbean ocean water. The ocean instantly embraced me with all of its glory. What am I compared to it's majestic strength? Just another one of those humans who can be swallowed and washed away....
Usually, I'd want to take as many pictures as I could. But in that moment, it was too powerful and overpowering to witness nature's beauty. There is no way a picture or any number of pictures could have captured the wondrous sensation.

It was definitely a good break from 4 weeks of studying non-stop (almost). I feel more alive. I also cooked some food that can last for the next two days.

And as for what's going on education-wise around here, we just took our first quiz in medical school. It was called the Unified Assessment Quiz, about 5% of our grade (in each class) and it's purpose is to make sure we are keeping up with the material and making sure we're studying the right way to perform well on tests. There were 25 questions for each subject - Anatomy, Biochemistry & Histology and we had an hour and 45 minutes to complete it. It's amazing how much everyone has studied for a 5% quiz. Some people said it was like studying for a final...this, I agree with. I was up till 4:30am this Saturday trying to understand every detail of Biochemistry. Oh yea, and I have been studying every day since the first day of classes. After the quiz, I felt like I should have studied more. I guess we'll never be well-prepared. But studying definitely helped me answer questions and put down correct answer choices, so I have to give it some credit. Understanding and memorization are key to scoring some easy points. In reality, the true test of our knowledge will be our patients. Hopefully when we encounter patients with Sickle Cell Anemia, we remember that there is a point mutation in their genetic code or realize that we need to do a spinal tap in between L4 and L5 to test their cerebrospinal fluid.

To quote my Anatomy professor, all of us feel as though we graduated from medical school. But as the evening approaches, I feel the need to get back to my routine. I value my free time like a delicious piece of Dove milk chocolate (with raspberry filling), and I realize the importance of keeping up with the material. I have a small aspiration though...someday, somehow, I want to be "ahead" of the material.

In our last Bioethics Small Group Discussion (this class will be ending next week...and yes, that means a final exam on Monday), there was a peculiar phrase that the facilitator mentioned that caught my attention immediately. Our topics of discussion included Physician Assisted Suicide and Climate Change and it's effects on health. As we neared the end of a case, the facilitator said, sometimes physicians make decisions for "The Greater Good". I can't imagine making a decision for the "The Greater Good". Isn't that what Batman or Spiderman would do? How does patient-assessment, ordering CAT scans/MRIs or even writing a prescription help the greater good. What is the greater good when it comes to a patient or a family? It is specific to certain medical cases, yes, but it's amazing how much power is being invested in us, future physicians.

My poetic skills came out tonight and I shall share some of my less-than-average creativity with you guys. I didn't know what to title it so I'm calling it:

The Greater Good

a drop of rain descends
stretches and relaxes
and meets my epidermis

part of it squeezes through
and the rest bounces,
surrenders to gravity
and oscillates with
the gentle wave

Sayonara until next time.