First Week of "Medical School"

To the left is Exhibit A: my classmates singing "Kissed by a Rose." This is the reason I have put first week of "medical school" in quotes, because frankly there wasn't a whole lot of "medical" about it. Sure we had our HIPAA orientation and our OSHA training and a few lectures on the curriculum, organizations and grades, but how were we supposed to pay attention? We were too busy facebooking and gmail chatting and friend requesting to really know what was going on. And at night there was He's Not Night, 80's at Lucy's, and dress up as your 2nd profession - what you would be if you didn't become a doctor - night (for me? A stay at home Dad - baby and all). I'd like to say that the first week wasn't all fun and games, but yeah, the first week was all fun and games.

It also was a whirlwind. There has been a constant stream of new people to meet. On Sunday I met my new roommate Alan, and together we dove into the scene head first. We've quickly formed little groups: our bus route group, the Finley Forest crew, Dimock College, and the J-group. It is obvious how the first two cliques started. Dimock College is one fifth of my class that has been randomly thrown together as two sets of advising groups. Most of our time has been spent together in these groups, so smaller cliques have formed quickly. Three of us in Dimock (Sarah P., Klara K. and me) formed the J-group. We were all J's according to the Myers-Briggs exam, and therefore we like to judge other people. (By the way, I'm an ENTJ, just like I have been for the past 6 years. Famous people that have the same personality type are: FDR, Steve Martin, and Hitler). Soon we'll have other cliques like our ICM (Introduction to Clinical Medicine) small group, and our Medicine in Society class group.

By far the coolest part of this week has been meeting the amazing people of my class. It's a very diverse and gregarious bunch of people, and I'm very excited to continue meeting everyone. Klara K. went to Stanford Undergrad and is doing an MD/PhD, Sarah P. is interested in health policy like me and is on a full-ride from the Air Force, Alan S. went to Western Carolina and wants to go into Internal Medicine, and Lauriane A. was a tennis player at Mercer after spending 13 years in France. And these are just four of the 160 I've met. In my class there is an Army Medic, a fireman, several people with Masters degrees, athletes, Dookies, and even a real live ninja. That's just cool. So far there aren't many of the competitive "pre-med" types that I knew all throughout undergrad. Everyone here is, to put it simply, normal. One fellow student is in doubt of my mental capabilities given that I was a former athlete, but other than that there have been zero bumps in the road.

I'm also already starting to get involved. I'm now typing up a proposal to start a "Health Policy Interest Group" here at the School of Medicine. It'll be a lot of work, but I'll get to meet a lot of esteemed professors and faculty along the way. I will be searching for an advisor and talking to presidents of other organizations to figure out how to begin. In the spirit of the club, I went to my first Town Hall meeting on Health Care last night on NCCU's campus. Looking for fanfare and tom-foolery, I wasn't let down. The cameras were on, people were screaming "socialism" and "communism" and "Nobama!" Questions were directed to Congressman David Price, and he took alternating "pro" and "con" inquiries. My favorite query was from an MD who had been a GP for the past 65 years, and he told David Price that he didn't want to be euthanized by Obama like his peers. Oh, America, how I love thee! The police had to get involved on more than one occasion to throw people out, though grandpa was allowed to stay.

Next week starts the real deal - the true first week of "medical school." I have a strong suspicion I won't be using quotes in next week's title.