The Year in Review III

After my final test in June, I felt a complex dipole of emotions. Having finished the first year, I was incredibly relieved, eager to set down the burden of studying, quick to relegate all the information I learned to the back of my mind. It was summer, time to relax, catch up with friends, sleep, and see the sun again. But on the other hand, there was some enormity in the realization that I had finished a fourth of an MD and that the material I learned in that past year would become critical when I started seeing patients very soon. Time will fly, I already know, and in just eight months, I'll be starting my first clerkship, stethoscope around my neck and panic in my mind. When I look back, I'm quite impressed. We covered a whole lot of information, and hopefully, I'll find it when I go spelunking down into the depths of my memory.

The diversity of the class in experiences, personalities, and talents is amazing and I really love hanging out with people in the class. It's so different seeing friends outside of the lecture hall, and people have so many incredible stories to share. I have become fond of San Francisco and the bay area; despite its quirks, it has a real charm to it. The school itself has immense resources, really tapping into the city's vast population of patients and doctors. I can't complain too much with my first year of medical school; I think I've grown a lot in many different ways.