Professionalism 24/7 and Some Slack

I’m not going to lie—these last few weeks have kept me busy and I’ve had little time for myself. So now as I write this journal entry, the past week and a half seem like long ago and it doesn’t seem that bad, but I will recall how I felt as I experienced it all.

This program is packed more than a family van on a road trip! And I have learned the importance of being professional at all times – including dressing nicely. I vividly recall the week of June 23rd—and dressing up every day for a seminar, tour, or teleconference.

There were the pesky dress shoes, the tie that felt like it was choking me, the blistering heat when we walked outside, and the most enlightening week of SEP. Although I have always been set on becoming a cardiologist, the seminars that week showed us more healthcare fields open to all of us. The teleconference in conjunction with the SMDEP program at Duke and another SMDEP program was a great success. Many stimulating discussions on medical ethics took place during the conference. Although technical problems caused it to end early, the discussions continued at Duke. The book under literary analysis was Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper. It is a wonderful book offering insight into two conflicting life altering choices—do what’s emotionally correct or save someone whose life depends on the successful transplantation of a kidney from her sister.

On Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, a health professions recruitment fair was held at Duke and representatives from all major medical colleges around the US (and even Ross University from the Caribbean!) were present. We had a professional presentation regarding applying to med school, but the best part was that we were free to investigate the med schools as we wished and we could talk to as many or as few as we wanted.

Last week was filled with early mornings and later afternoons. I guess we had to make up time earlier in the week to have the 4th off. But regardless, the distinguishing feature of this week was the presentation by Dr. Larry Keith, who is a dean of admissions for UNC School of Medicine and also the lead role in MED admissions.
Tomorrow finals start and another week of hectic studying awaits.