Saturday, October 23, 2010

2nd year changes

Been a while since I've posted up here. Seems like the past summer has finally reinforced my decision to stay in medicine.

"Stay"? Yeah - I had serious doubts about medicine when this last June rolled around. It seemed like I figured my days were better spent googling "pros and cons of quitting medical school" than memorizing the pathophysiology of CHD, ASD, DVT, VSD, UTI, HIV, EBV, CMD......

This past summer was amazing though. I rocked it out traveling through India - part backpacking and part global health work. The latter bit was phenomenal. I was based in the Himalayas working with a Tibetan community. Was it the lack of iPhones, cable, internet, or electricity most evenings (and let's not forget the comfort of bathing water without worms) that opened up my eyes about medicine? Nah - let's be real, I've given up numerous comforts while sleeping in the back alleys of numerous developing nations. The serenity of having very little with me was a good way to clear my mind up though. Was it the insanely genuine locals? Possibly, but I don't think it was that either.

This may come across as borderline arrogant, but it was the realization that my skills can REALLY move and shake the lives of others. I really had to feel for myself the thrill of having the skills to figure out a kid's health problems like a detective and mustering up the little knowledge I have to help her out. Sure, diagnosing scabies and giardia ain't the most glamorous thing, but knowing that I'll eventually be able to tackle far crazier med situations is pretty damn epic.














It was in this photo here that the realization smacked me in the face. I was driving with my Canadian team while driving through the crazy zig-zagged mountain roads after delivering meds to nearby villages - amazing. Guess medicine wasn't such a bad choice after all. Corny post ends here. SCENE!