Never drop the glass ball

Medicine is my calling. No one in my family is a physician, or even remotely medical, but I feel as though I’ve had a vocation for it since the fifth grade when I read about the human body in my copy of DK’s Encyclopedia of the Human Body. Fast forward through a hard worked undergraduate at the U of R and I found myself sitting in medical school. The place I only dreamed of being being one day. A lot has happened since then and the past two years have been absolutely incredible. They’ve been tough, long, and oh so rewarding. They have nothing but reaffirmed the passion that sparked when I was young and I am as ready as ever to enter JURSI and do the best that I can to learn, help patients, and continue fifth grade dream.

I’ll never forget the first day of medical school when Dr. Sheila Harding stood at the front of the class with two balls. The first was made of a hard red rubber, the other of delicate glass. She explained that the red ball represented medicine; while its important to hold on to it can be dropped every once and a while because it will bounce right back. The glass ball on the other hand represented family, friends, and life outside of medicine. This ball, if dropped, may shatter on the floor if you aren’t careful with it. I feel like this was one of the most important lessons I have learned in medicine thus far, and I am extremely thankful for that. 

As we know medicine seems to be drawn to lists, acronyms, and mnemonics. Some come to mind right away, such as the five Fs of cholelithiasis (which are now falling out of favour), the five Fs for DDH risk factors, the eight Fs for etiology of abdominal distension, etc. etc. So keeping in mind Dr. Harding’s lesson this summer my focus, and the focus of my blog posts, will be on a my own set of Fs:

• Family
• Friends
• Fitness
• Further learning
• Fun

Friends and Family: Life is fast and busy, we all know it. The semester was too so my mission is to make up as much as possible with my friends and family here at home, at the lake, camping, or whenever I have the chance. So far I have been camping with friends, had many bonfires at home with my family and friends together, and just spent the weekend at a friend's cabin in Island View, SK. I’m looking forward to my annual camping trip to Mirond Lake, SK coming up in mid June. More on this later!

Fitness: The semester is busy. Really busy. Especially when you throw in all sorts of meetings and SMSS work on top of school. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved my involvement in extracurriculars this past semester, its just that its easy to skimp out on the gym in order to rip through those neuro or nephro lectures that are giving you trouble whenever you have some extra time. So since finals have ended I’ve gotten myself a bicycle and a gym membership at the U of R and have been faithfully exercising for at least an hour every day. I forgot how great the endorphins and the satisfaction of a good sweat feels! Luckily, I’m also taking the class class I need for my degree at the U of R this May/June, so instead of driving I’ve made it my mission to bike there and back each morning on a beautiful route that goes through Douglas Park in Regina.

Further learning: This summer will be jam packed with keeping up with learning, including PREP, conferences, self-studying, developing new skills outside of academics, and more that I have yet to do so I will get into this later!

Fun: This weekend I’ll be taking on an exciting challenge: skydiving. In 2012 I did my first tandem jump (strapped to an instructor who did all of the work) and it was a blast… but it left me wanting more. So along with one of the Phase D students and another friend, I’ll be starting the first session for my solo skydiving certificate tomorrow night with the first jump following Saturday morning (weather permitting). As it just so happens this falls near the same time as my birthday, so my mother is rightfully angry with my decision to jump out of a plane.

… Sorry ma!