The First Buds

From Boston

What a difference 4 months makes. While Boston has the terrible habit of lingering winters, the promise of spring is felt in the sun on a day like today and the small buds that are appearing on the trees around here. Even in class we are reminded that summer is not far from the horizon. We've started our last course for the first year, a combined block of Immunology, Microbiology, and Pathology. It begs the question, where has the time gone?

So in the spirit of spring cleaning, here is a recap of the last few months (with links to photos):

• December: Over the holidays, I saw both sides of my family visiting Las Vegas and Houston. As is always the case with my extended family, the predominant activity was going to restaurants and eating excellently.
• January: After the intensity of anatomy and genetics, January was a relative respite as we took a course in clinical epidemiology and grant proposal writing. This second class was a significant source of stress for many of us as we scrambled to make plans to do research or community service over the summer. Over MLK weekend, I visited a college friend who is a medical student at Dartmouth and had my first, very unsuccessful, experience with downhill skiing.
• February: Our most rigorous class of the year, physiology, was everything as advertised. We spent roughly a week on each human system (respiratory, cardiology, gastroenterology, nephrology, and endocrinology), and this was the first time since starting medical school that I truly felt thrown into the deep end of a pool with my arms tied behind my back. We also started our second semester course in medical ethics. Thankful for national holidays, I spent President's weekend in our nation's capital being patriotic with some SPHINX Buckeyes.
• March: The conclusion of physiology was gratifying because preparation for our final exam promoted working in groups to truly integrate the vast amount of material across human systems we had learned in the short six weeks. Directly following, I finally spent enough time visiting Columbus to feel settled at home, read leisurely, and visit friends.
  

As I recount this, I am chuckling a little bit at the pattern in each month consisting of and . There are experiences that have spanned this entire period including interviewing patients for our patient-doctor course, exploring my interest in the field of humanitarian relief, building friendships with classmates, catching up with friends who pass through Boston, having fun volunteering in the Boston area, and getting my only exercise through intramural volleyball.

While life is presently dominated by the day to day of preparing for class and assimilating medical knowledge and culture, thankfully, there are still times everyday when the tension breaks. Jokes are made, time is allowed to pass by, and the small things in life are appreciated. That is the promise of spring.