Found: "The Purity of My Life and My Arts"

Kendra Campbell -- I’ve now begun my second year of med school, and I feel energized once again. Unlike most U.S. schools, my school is based on a trimester system. Instead of taking the summer off, I’m already starting my second year classes. I consider this to be quite an advantage, because I’ll end up completing the equivalent of four years of med school in a little over three years. While this means that I have to give up the rest and recovery I’d get with a summer break, I like the fact that I don’t have to worry about losing momentum.

Second year is already way more fun than first. I spent the first two semesters here taking classes like anatomy and biochemistry which demonstrate how the body is “supposed” to work. With classes like pathology and microbiology, I’m finally starting to learn about what happens when stuff goes wrong.

As I look back on the last few weeks of my first year of med school, I realize that I was beginning to lose momentum. I stopped getting excited about watching lectures and my motivation to study was beginning to dwindle. Now that I’m taking new subjects and learning about various diseases, I am once again excited about learning and discovering what happens when things go wrong with the human body. I’ve also started an Introduction to Clinical Medicine course, so I will soon be learning how to perform physical exams, and I’ll actually get to have patient interaction.

So far, my favorite class is definitely pathology. The word pathology comes from the Greek word, “pathos,” meaning suffering. Being a doctor requires learning about the causes of suffering, and doing everything one can do to prevent the suffering of patients. Now that I’m beginning to understand the mechanisms involved with various diseases, and hence potential causes of suffering, I’m beginning to feel like more and more of a doctor-to-be.

I purchased a white coat to wear for our school’s induction ceremony nine months ago, but I haven’t worn it since then. Because I will finally get to wear it again this semester, I recently rummaged through my closet to make sure that it hadn’t been eaten by lizards or any of the other critters that live in my closet. As I pulled it out and wiped off the dust and sand, I found a piece of paper that I received during my white coat ceremony. Being the terribly cheesy and nostalgic person that I am, I re-read the inscribed words, and they reminded me of one line from the Hippocratic oath: “I will preserve the purity of my life and my arts.” Although there are parts of the oath that I disagree with, I think these are nice words to live by, and not just for physicians. Now that my motivation level is up again, I feel like I can actually begin living by those words again. With that in mind, here goes second year!