So here I am, 21, fresh out of college, fresh into medical school. My kind of path seems, however, not typical here. The average age of incoming students is around 24 at this school. My classmates bring with them not only a love for organic chemistry, but long term relationships, fiancees--even husbands and wives. Dinner conversations drift naturally for everyone into where best to raise a family and what kind of practice would leave the most time for weekends trips with the kids. Of course, there are still others like me, young and bushy-tailed, and perhaps more prevalent would be the eager mid-twenties-career-switch students with one foot in collegic nostalgia-land and one foot already wearied by their stint in the corporate world. But in this infectious environment, it's hard not to get realistic about our futures. I'm feeling 5 years older already.
The first days of medical school here are all fun and games (as much fun as can be had with powerpoint slides and lectures on exposure to Hepatitis B and HIV that is). We try to bond as a class over 3 legged races, red rover games, and waterballoon toss, and so far the attempts seem to be working. Remarkable, though, is when it came time for each of us to try out our white coats, those lily colored cotton lab jackets that drapes over us like clean asceptic gloves (we're told ironically that this is clothing doctors wear to protect ourselves from the germs of the environment around us). By simply trying them on, I think everyone saw the glimmer of possiblity that, until now, seemed so far away: the chance to become real doctors. We are told we will need those coats very soon for our patient interviewing class. I am scared shitless, but I can't wait to start. Patient interview...as in me, 21 yrs old, fresh out of college, talking to patients within weeks of starting medical school.
Med school is no longer an idea. I'm really here.
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