At This Point

Yesterday, we had our very last SGD (small group discussion). Starting Monday, we will be going through what we call "Hell Weeks". That is, three weeks of non-stop examinations. The Finals of all Finals.

We were pretty sentimental yesterday. Pictures galore!

But now, a day after, when I'm home and trying to study for my first exam on Monday, I try to really think about the implications of all these.

Our years of formal schooling ended yesterday.

No more SGDs. No more first five jumps (where we get trigger cases and brainstorm and come up with problems & hypotheses & learning goals), no more task sheets and division of tasks (technically, we were not allowed to do that and were expected to READ EVERYTHING but that is so unrealistic) no more cramming & reading our tasks two hours before the Synthesis (where we do the reporting), no more spending for acetates or writing on the whiteboard when we were on a low budget, no more concept maps and no more SGD preceptors.

What it all means, actually, is that at this point in time, medical school has taught us all it could. At this point in time, we should have learned all that we could. And that leaves me with a very important question.

What have I learned?

So... ummm... hmmm... That's an interesting question.

My follow-up question is: What in the world have I been doing the past three years????

After Hell Weeks, we have a month of reprieve, and then we go into the Pit. Namely, the hospital. The real world arena of medicine. We'll be interns! We'll be responsible for and taking care of REAL PATIENTS. We'll be part of a medical team.

Am I prepared for that??

Well, I better be.

To my classmates, future colleagues, and the reason for my sanity & insanity, the best years are still to come. Thank you for the memories.

:)