Yes, I've been delinquent in keeping this blog updated. There's been quite a lot of happenings, the most significant one being my graduation from med school! No less significant, though, being my birthday in April as well as my imminent transition to Dayton. In fact, since my last post, I have found a sweet apartment in downtown Dayton and the Air Force has moved a majority of my household goods from my room. (I am literally living out of a suitcase since my clothes drawers are on their way to Ohio.)
Some highlights from the past couple of months:
[Graduating in-house Phi Rho-ers enjoying gelato!]
[Free birthday show at the Ann Arbor Comedy Showcase!]
[Skeet shooting...]
[...and BBQ at Dr. Brzezinski's house!]
[Phi Rho Senior Dinner!]
[Graduation, with the Honduras crew!]
[Diploma, custom-framed with Michigan-blue matting!]
These images give me pause to reflect on how my time in Michigan has impacted me. I've had countless memories of good times, but there has been an even deeper change in the way I view the world. (Folks who were at Phi Rho Senior Dinner will have heard this message already, but it is elaborated and more coherently written down below.)
The best way to explain what I mean comes from a TED talk entitled "Building the Musical Muscle." The speaker is Dr. Charles Limb, an ENT surgeon who explains that although cochlear implants have come a long way in helping patients with speech and language, the devices are unable to help patients differentiate between a trumpet and a violin. What's more, he drives home the point that this is unacceptable. He goes on to say that he and his colleagues actually have an obligation to help patients appreciate music. The theme of the talk was that our duty as physicians is not simply to restore basic function, but to restore beauty.
This message has struck a major chord with me (no pun intended). Oftentimes the main goal in med school and residency is to learn how to remove disease, but there is so much more to the human experience than being functional. The world was not made for living, it was made for thriving. As physicians, we should help patients see the world as it was meant to be, not simply a world devoid of pain but a world infused with happiness.
If I am to take anything away from my time at Michigan, it won't just be the education I received, the innumerable facts and skills I had to learn. Instead, the most important thing I have gained is the sense of joy I've had outside of the classroom. Were there difficult times along the way? Of course. Any of my close confidants know that I had personal struggles alongside personal triumphs. And I do not doubt that there will be similar struggles in the future. But the time I've spent with these friends, the little moments in life (going to late-night movie outings, satisfying a sudden urge for ice cream), the big moments in life (celebrating birthdays, engagements, weddings), they all have given me a glimpse of the human condition at its best, and it is a vision worth aspiring to, both during my residency and beyond.