First, Do No Harm

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the graduation ceremony for the ATSU-KCOM class of 2009. It's pretty impressive to see 166 new physicians hit the workforce, excited and nervous about starting internship/residency and finally entering "the real world" that we've been aiming for for so many years. (I realize there's a double "for" but I think it works that way!)

At the end of the ceremony all the graduates recite the Osteopathic Oath. I've read it before and admired it, but something about being done with the first two years of classroom learning helped me imagine part of what this might mean to a new graduate. The closer I get to the goal, the more relevant this oath becomes:

I do hereby affirm my loyalty to the profession I am about to enter. I will be mindful always of my great responsibility to preserve the health and the life of my patients, to retain their confidence and respect both as a physician and a friend who will guard their secrets with scrupulous honor and fidelity, to perform faithfully my professional duties, to employ only those recognized methods of treatment consistent with good judgment and with my skill and ability, keeping in mind always nature's laws and the body's inherent capacity for recovery.

I will be ever vigilant in aiding in the general welfare of the community , sustaining its laws and institutions, not engaging in those practices which will in any way bring shame or discredit upon myself or my profession. I will give no drugs for deadly purposes to any person, though it may be asked of me.

I will endeavor to work in accord with my colleagues in a spirit of progressive cooperation and never by word or by act cast imputations upon them or their rightful practices.

I will look with respect and esteem upon all those who have taught me my art. To my college I will be loyal and strive always for its best interests and for the interests of the students who will come after me.I will be ever alert to further the application of basic biologic truths to the healing arts and to develop the principles of osteopathy which were first enunciated by Andrew Taylor Still.

In reflecting on the recent Kirksville tornado and the myriad of events and emotions since then, the phrase commiting to be "ever vigilant in aiding the general welfare of the community" seems to really stand out. It's been amazing to be a part of the KCOM community as so many students have given so much time & sacrifice to support each other through the damage, the clean-up, the re-starting and co-coping. A lot of others have voiced the sentiment already, but it truly is an honor to stand with these comrades and face a potential tragedy with such community strength. I am not an island--a good reminder in what would otherwise be a usually isolated & stressful finals week. Maybe it's easier to say because I did not sustain any storm damage personally, but it's almost a positive way to end these first two years in realizing that there's more to life than school; that we do serve a purpose in the community (even without epinephrine or defibrillator paddles); and that we do all come together to "work in accord with my colleagues in a spirit of progressive cooperation." To my classmates--I will miss you all scattered abroad on rotations.

Done?

This has been one anti-climatic week! I have officially finished my last final ever and I am sure that I am moving on to my third year of medical school. I love being able to write OMSIII after stuff. I guess after a week of finals...three tests of which were over brand new material....and a tornado that ripped through town and destroyed the houses of my friends...I guess the end doesn't really feel like the end.

I find myself exhausted in every imaginable capacity. I'm physically exhausted from the clean up work from the last couple of days in the wake of our tornado. I'm mentally exhausted from cramming so much information into my brain this week. I'm emotionally exhausted from all of the above. Tonight was a night off, a much deserved and much needed night off.

So now it's onto the next thing. We have a week of class still to get through next week and we're finishing up with our ACLS training. After my last performance, I'm going to have to be much more careful this time around with the shock paddles...luckily these are fake shocks on patient simulators. After that, it's time to study tons and tons for boards on June 15, get moved to Joplin, enjoy a few days with the family in the Ozarks and then start my IM rotation on July 1. This is going to be a wild month, but I'm sure after this week that I am definitely up for the challenge.

Intro to Randomness

This is a version of my last post on my own blog: it's pretty much about school, too.

• Finals week. The decision between sleep & study is becoming harder; somewhere laundry and dishes need to work their way in, too.
• Am sick of worrying about COMLEX--medical liscensing boards--but it's coming up too soon (32 days!) and it's all I can do to (not quite) keep up with classwork so far, let alone reviewing EVERYTHING I never knew about what makes us tick.
  
• Sad that I'm so caught up in studying & personal priorities that I don't get to milk all the socializing out of friends before we all go our separate ways. We still have a required week after finals, though, so I'm sure we'll be commisserating our way through that.
• Why do medical students complain so much? We volunteered to be here... and are in fact paying out the wazoo to be here.
• I <3 study groups.
  
• Monster juice on an empty stomach = lost appetite next day (not a recommended diet aid)
• I can't believe it's May... but Yay! for finally feeling like Summer in the Ville.
  
• The end is so close, and yet so far. I'm so ready to move, but not ready for everything that has to happen before the boxes come out.