A YEAR?!?!

I just took my midterm exam in Pathogenesis and Mechanisms of Host Defense, which means that only three final exams stand between me and second-year (those being Path, ASM, and PMHD). As the end of first-year is quickly coming into sight and I can count the last assignments I still have to do on my fingers, I thought this would be a reasonable time to think about what has happened in the last 11 months. About a year ago I was putting the finishing touches on my Master's Thesis (I think it was due a year ago this Friday), and I was getting ready for graduation. That was such a crazy time, when I still didn't know where I would be going to medical school (NY... Miami... anywhere...). Soon after I accepted the spot at Sinai, I started the SEP program. While that program was a great practice for the actualy courses we'd be taking in the Fall, it was all still surreal to me. When classes actually started and we met all the rest of the students, things started to move really quickly. I remember the first time I volunteered at EHHOP I was scared to even touch the patient... now I almost feel like I could do the whole history/physical on my own (as I did countless times in Belize). This year I dissected two cadavers, got the opportunity to be an AMSA Global Health Scholar, spoke with Stephen Lewis, met Jeff Sachs and Paul Farmer, saw Bill Clinton speak, went to Belize, and am closing to having a paper published. It has truthfully been a roller-coaster ride, and I definitely would not have thought so much would happen in this year.