So this week was full of lectures and exercises geared to make our transition a bit easier. What does it take to make a good third year student? One must be on time, always available, cheerful, smiling, ready to take on new challenges, an advocate for patients, a good reader, etc. etc. The most important lesson to be learned, however, was "don't be an asshole." We spent a good bit of time learning about professionalism, i.e., what you should and shouldn't do. We even spent two hours in small group discussing ethical scenarios that one might come across in the next few years. This begets the question (and prompted ample discussion amongst friends), can you teach someone not to be an asshole? Is being a jerk nature or nurture, and can you teach someone who is already a numskull not to be a nincompoop? I've pondered at length concerning leadership, and I think it provides a very similar parallel. I have come to the conclusion that you really can't teach empathy or compassion in a lecture hall. It has to be learned through open discussion and experiences. For me, I need to be yelled at a bit. I would hope that if I'm doing something inappropriate, I would be scolded vociferously. I guarantee you that I won't do it again, that's for sure. An asshole is an asshole; we just need a little more stick than carrot.
This week also marks the transition for this blog. I've been able to pretty much write what I want for the past two years. This is going to change. I have to be very careful about what and who I blog about, because physicians and others in the health care professions have lost their jobs due to HIPAA violations in their musings. Even if laws aren't violated, patients have still identified with their stories detailed on the internet, and this can be a serious problem. Patient encounters and experiences are going to have to be mute of all identifiers. Names, ages, dates, histories, etc. will all have to be changed to protect patient privacy. However, the content, feelings, emotions, ethical quandaries, all may remain the same. I have heard of some residency programs that completely forbid social media, and others that encourage it. One just has to be careful. I originally thought these weekly postings would be a burden on my time and studies, but I've grown to enjoy writing each week. It's a release, spilling my pent up thoughts and emotions onto the keyboard, even if the outlet only serves to maintain my own sanity. I need it, and I'm not going to stop now.
I also look forward to really writing about medicine. This blog is entitled The Language of Medicine, yet it might as well have been called, "The Language of An Angsty Medical Student as He Yearns to be Rid of the Classroom." Now (hopefully) the name will have real meaning. Next week's blog post will actually be a beginning: the first week of real medicine. It will be medicine in the eyes of someone who has yet to behold its wonder and idiosyncrasies, its altruism and its politics. I will have to be careful what I write, but I will remain true and honest about what I experience. These weekly musings will become so much more important to me, as I empty my head each Friday of the ups and downs of days past, but I also hope they will be more intriguing and exciting to the reader.
In other news, my blog was featured by allheartmatters.com, which blogs about current medical narratives. I thought it was pretty cool that my mother isn't the only one who reads my posts each week. Also, although I am so excited to move to Asheville this weekend, I will dearly miss a number of my classmates whom I've come to call my closest friends. You know who you are, and I will pine for you in my sleep each night (or call you 17 times a day). Once life calms down a bit this year (does it?), I will be coming back to Chapel Hill and visiting Charlotte to see my beloveds.
So hang tight, and good luck everyone with the upcoming year!
No comments:
Post a Comment