Waiting around

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Orientation

I haven't posted during orientation, and simply put, it's because it was so freaking long. We started at 8AM every day, and went til midnight some days. But, the most important part, it's been exciting. I have met tons (ok, like 150) people over the past week and these are the people that I will be working with over the next 4 years as we become doctors. Everyone that I have met has been absolutely amazing, and though I don't remember everyone's name, everyone has been incredible. It makes me real happy to know that these are the people that I am going to be working with.

In a nutshell...
Wednesday: Got to campus and did the ice-breaker stuff "Hi, my name is x, I went to y for undergrad, and z for grad school and I am from a. I am b years old, and blah blah blah." We had the deans and the provost and all of the important people that are involved in our lives as medical students. The coolest part may have been when the dean said "the competition is over." That felt pretty cool. That afternoon, we did the campus tour, and got our ID cards, and all of the other stuff. That night, we went to the Nats/Braves game, where the Nats won! Following this was a trip to Old Glory and Rhino Bar in Georgetown. And that's all I need to say about that.

Thursday: Scavenget hunt. Let's just say we walked a TON. All over Georgetown, Foggy Bottom, Dupont Circle, and the mall. We took 1 metro ride the entire day and otherwise we walked for all 6 hours. It was absolutley crazy, and at the same time, absolutely awesome. We had so much fun, even though by the end of the day, we were ready to saw off our feet. That night, we took a monuments at night river cruise (read: booze cruise). This was followed up by another walk up to Georgetown to 3rd edition. And that's all I need to say about that. (Catching a theme?)

Friday: This was only a half day, where we got to hear about our classes from second years, and about the whole professionalism in medicine. Good talks overall, but considering my state, I was ready to just go back to bed. We had the afternoon off and the night was taken up by the DC Improv. 2 of the 3 were funny. The headliner was just horrible. I can't even begin to describe, so I won't. And then we went to Lucky Bar.

Saturday: This was the white coat ceremony. This is the day that we recieved our white coats signifying our entry into medical school. (My sister is with me in the picture... and yes, I did white out my last name on the name card in case you were wondering) Overall, it's a very exciting day, a day of celebration. And it apparently means we are doctors. In fact, we went out to dinner in Georgetown following the ceremony, and as I walked in I was still wearing my white coat, and a waiter stops and looks at me and says "good evening doctor." I laughed, and mumbled something to the effect of "Who me? Ohhh no, not at all." Just because I have the coat doesn't mean too much. But it was a pretty surreal moment, signifying the trust and knowledge of what comes with wearing the white coat. And after dinner, we went to a classmate's house and well, yeah.

Sunday: Relax day! I went home to Baltimore to get some information on my grandfather for a scholarship, and also to go to Sam's Club for some food and to do some laundry and a free dinner. I also squeezed in a 2 hour nap. All around good day.

Today (Monday): We started with a Problem Based Learning (PBL) example. That was a pretty cool intro to what we will be doing, and since we weren't being graded on it, there was no stress or anything involved with it. We had some good laughs and it was just kind of a relaxed atmosphere. The tone after lunch was anything but. It involved money and how much we are going to owe. And that's really exciting. And I don't feel like saying anything else about that except that the session wasn't exactly worth it since all the decisions had already been made about the money, and it really doesn't matter because everything will get paid back and we most likely aren't being screwed because we are in this for the greater good.

Tomorrow we are really in for it as we start Gross Anatomy ("Gross") A couple of lectures and then I believe we meet our cadaver. I'll write more on that tomorrow.

So that's been my life in a nutshell (a seemingly rather large one). I've had a lot of fun, and if these are the people that I need to study and work with over the next 4 years, I can't say I have any complaints.

I am real excited to get this year under way!!

1 Comments:

  • Congrats.

    I had a science major and went into the private sector while many of my friends went to med school. They are all serving their residencies now and all say medical school wasn't as hard as they thought. But the boards... I hear they are killer.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:02 AM  

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