more monster madness

these are twin monsters - fraternal obviously

they are friendly monsters who ensure students are being taken care of

they went to good homes after grad

RAWR!

Ceremony

Graduation day itself was a whirlwind of activity and emotion. I've always been a crier - especially when a large group of people is doing something together (dancing, singing, chanting, swaying). When we sang the national anthem as a class, I cried and couldn't sing because I kept thinking, this is the last time we're going to sing together. As a class, we are incredibly talented and always put on a great show at our annual variety show. Singing with the class has just been part of school.

We were accepted by the vice - chancellor to be graduates from the class of medicine (phew) officially making us all MDs. That was a bit freaky and still makes me nauseous when I consider what that really means.

The ceremony itself was lovely and suited our class perfectly. There were irreverent moments and times of great solemnity. It was exactly what I had hoped for.

Until the recessional tune was started by the string quartet.

My class has always gone berserk for Journey's Don't Stop Believing. It's a huge part of what I think it is to be a 2011. We all run for the dance floor and fist pump to the song whenever it's on in whichever bar we've taken over.

When the string quartet started playing Don't Stop Believing, I was treated to our class singing together again. I tried to sing along too, but frankly, that's incredibly hard to do when one is bawling at the same time. It was the most wonderful surprise I have ever experienced. I'm still a bit in shock that the perpetrators of the surprise were able to keep it from me - I thought I knew just about everything that was going on in this class. Nothing could have made me happier and sadder at the same time.

Graduation Day

In 2007 I recited the Hippocratic Oath with a huge group of strangers.

Today, I'll repeat the Oath, but this time I get to say it with the strongest, funnest and most amazing people I've ever had the opportunity to get to know.

This is a huge step for us that we get to take together again. It's heartbreaking though that every step after this will be taken separately.

My class has been my support and my burden. They've been my friends and my pains in the ass. There are members of the class I will sincerely not miss, but only a couple. Despite our best efforts, I'm sure that we will not be as close over the coming years as we wish we could be.

This is going to be a bittersweet day - celebrating our amazing accomplishments but also mourning our close friendships. There is something precious in the day to day interactions that I've had with my class over the years - getting to know everyone's quirks, their dreams, their food preferences and being able to smile and say hi to 144 people and having that reciprocated.

My partner keeps referring to my class and the medical profession in general as a cult. I get that. We use a "secret" language, we are bound to one another tightly through extraordinary circumstances. Mind altering substances (mostly tequila) are used liberally. We see each other and medicine in general as the most important things in our lives next to our families and own health. We follow the doctrine of evidence based medicine (state your source!). We were kept together in close proximity during our clerkship training, very much like the compounds used to prevent cult members from seeing anyone in the outside world.

But I digress.

Big day. Big big day.

One version of the Oath:

The practice of medicine is a privilege which carries important responsibilities. All doctors should observe the core values of the profession which centre on the duty to help sick people and to avoid harm. I promise that my medical knowledge will be used to benefit people's health. They are my first concern. I will listen to them and provide the best care I can. I will be honest, respectful and compassionate towards patients. In emergencies, I will do my best to help anyone in medical need.

I will make every effort to ensure that the rights of all patients are respected, including vulnerable groups who lack means of making their needs known, be it through immaturity, mental incapacity, imprisonment or detention or other circumstance.

My professional judgement will be exercised as independently as possible and not be influenced by political pressures nor by factors such as the social standing of the patient. I will not put personal profit or advancement above my duty to patients.

I recognise the special value of human life but I also know that the prolongation of human life is not the only aim of healthcare. Where abortion is permitted, I agree that it should take place only within an ethical and legal framework. I will not provide treatments which are pointless or harmful or which an informed and competent patient refuses.

I will ensure patients receive the information and support they want to make decisions about disease prevention and improvement of their health. I will answer as truthfully as I can and respect patients' decisions unless that puts others at risk of harm. If I cannot agree with their requests, I will explain why.

If my patients have limited mental awareness, I will still encourage them to participate in decisions as much as they feel able and willing to do so.

I will do my best to maintain confidentiality about all patients. If there are overriding reasons which prevent my keeping a patient's confidentiality I will explain them.

I will recognise the limits of my knowledge and seek advice from colleagues when necessary. I will acknowledge my mistakes. I will do my best to keep myself and colleagues informed of new developments and ensure that poor standards or bad practices are exposed to those who can improve them.

I will show respect for all those with whom I work and be ready to share my knowledge by teaching others what I know.

I will use my training and professional standing to improve the community in which I work. I will treat patients equitably and support a fair and humane distribution of health resources. I will try to influence positively authorities whose policies harm public health. I will oppose policies which breach internationally accepted standards of human rights. I will strive to change laws which are contrary to patients' interests or to my professional ethics.

Graduation Festivities

I'm going to skip over the MCCQE and what I've been up to since writing it, with a promise to come back to it later.

Tonight our convocation festivities start.

One of the guys in my class said that he thought his family was making a much bigger deal of this than he thought it was worth. He recognizes that getting to this point in our lives is huge, but from his perspective, just another step.

I definitely get that. I think that these celebrations are a way for us to share what we've been doing for the past 4 years with our family and friends.

From our perspective, not much changes from when we first got our white coat four years ago to when we get our parchment tomorrow. It's true we've grown and learned, but we have been doing this at incremental steps so that it doesn't seem like much has changed. It's true that there has been work, but there's been fun and we've been doing it as a class with whom we've become close. It's hard to think about our day to day work as difficult when you're doing it with friends. Plus, we still need to start our residency in July which means packing, moving and trying to not look like an idiot on our first day. Our focus is far ahead to what is yet to come.

Our families on the other hand, have been dreaming of this day for longer than we have, even if they don't want to admit it. They are so proud of what we have done, seen and learned. They recognize the changes in our personalities, appearance and confidence. They are excited to see the class again since not seeing us all together since year 1. There have been few opportunities for them to share our accomplishments with us. They are excited to take photos of the new doctor in the family, to shake our hands and give us hugs. And to brag to everyone who will stand still for more than a few seconds to hear that cousin impostor is graduating from med school on Friday.

Our family and friends are proud of us.

I can't blame them really. I couldn't be more proud of my class.

carb loading

tomorrow's the big exam day

I'm trying to practice "good exam hygiene" as recommended by a clever person in my class.

Tonight I'll be watching a goofy movie and not studying. I've packed fruit, a salad and other happy good food for lunch.

I feel like I'm writing the MCAT all over again.

playing dress up with my cat is more fun than studying

so is:
painting my nails
making a quilt
laundry
dishes
watching tv series I've missed
doing the Canadian census

... it just never ends, this list of things that is more fun than studying

playing dress up with my cat is more fun than studying

so is:
painting my nails
making a quilt
laundry
dishes
watching tv series I've missed
doing the Canadian census

... it just never ends, this list of things that is more fun than studying

measuring pages read by rings of my green tea latté

Mmmmmmmm green tea latté