Thursday, November 20, 2008

So you got into medicine...

Today, a good friend of mine told me he just received great news - he got into medicine! This kid, at the tender age of 17, already knows what he wants to do with his life. Since my exam finished last week, I've been reflecting on the Year that Was, and on my experiences in medicine thus far. Having received the news from my friend, I now have an excuse to blog about it.

At the end of last year, I looked back in reflection with rose-tinted glasses and thought it wasn't that bad. This year, I reflect on the year it's been... and there is no rose-tinting. How do I begin to describe the second year of the UQ MBBS degree? It has been a labour of love, but a labour nonetheless. I could compare it to one of the tasks of Hercules - or one of those fairytales where the hero has to pass through obstacles and behead many monsters. (It was like: it can't get any worse than this, right? And then it gets worse. Repeat repeatedly through two years.) The psychological torture that is the end of the year would make any Nazi (or horror movie film maker) proud. The end of year exam was a cruel gruel of irony, cooked up in the river Styx itself, a final insult to what sanity you may have left. You enter, armed with your notes from first year, and you come out the other side, battered and bruised and bleeding, encumbered with enough notes to endanger a rare rainforest, and having lost all memory of all that passed in between (except for the pain... oh the pain!)...

In spite of all that I said about the year that was, on reflection, I still find it hard to believe how blessed I am that I am here at all. What profession is there like medicine? Few other professions offer the same rewards, but require the same sacrifices. You may have to walk through mud and slime to get there, but it is a journey I wouldn't exchange for anything else short of rock stardom. (I mean, what other profession is like medicine? It is intellectually challenging, mentally fulfilling, financially rewarding, and socially exulted. You can find those things elsewhere, but not usually all of them in one job.) So, to the young adventuring soul braving the harsh extremes that is medicine, you made a good choice. Really.

Oh yeah, by the way, it's my 22nd birthday today.

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