Medical School Orientation Info + First Course Books!

So, I definitely wasn’t planning on writing a post today, but I honestly couldn’t help myself when I saw the emails my school sent me about MS1 Orientation!

So here’s the low down:

Our MS1 orientation begins on July 27th and it officially ends on July 31st. It is designed, of course, to introduce new students to the medical school and our class (s/o to the class of 2019!).

Of course their are going to be lots of presentations about how to stay healthy and sane during school, how to budget our borrowed money, and how the curriculum and school operates.

Side Note: I don’t think I’ve been this excited since I found out I was accepted to medical school! 

Now, I know what you’re thinking…she’s excited about school…and studying…and more studying. But, finally having some type of idea of how my first week will go really makes me happy (I’m a planner by nature)!

Also we got some updates about our first official class: Patient, Doctor and Society.

This class is a 2 week course designed to teach us about medical ethics, professionalism, and the history of our future occupation. I think I will really enjoy this class, since I completely fell in love with Bioethics in undergrad, and I love my fair share of debates and discussions.

Do you think I’m a weirdo? Or do you like discussions and debating too?

Plus, we will get to visit the wards during this class, and so I will have some patient interaction early on!

One of the most important parts of this class is that we will be reading two books and writing reflection essays on the various topics and points the literature brings to light.

The first book is called, Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance. I’m getting my copy off of amazon for a few dollars and some change.

Here’s an overview, courtesy of the oh so amazing Amazon.com, for your enjoyment:

The struggle to perform well is universal: each of us faces fatigue, limited resources, and imperfect abilities in whatever we do. But nowhere is this drive to do better more important than in medicine, where lives may be on the line with any decision.

Atul Gawande, the New York Times bestselling author of Complications, examines, in riveting accounts of medical failure and triumph, how success is achieved in this complex and risk-filled profession. At once unflinching and compassionate, Better is an exhilarating journey, narrated by “arguably the best nonfiction doctor-writer around” (Salon.com).

The second book is called, My Own Country: A Doctor’s Story. Check out the details below:

Nestled in the Smoky Mountains of eastern Tennessee, the town of Johnson City had always seemed exempt from the anxieties of modern American life. But when the local hospital treated its first AIDS patient, a crisis that had once seemed an “urban problem” had arrived in the town to stay.

Working in Johnson City was Abraham Verghese, a young Indian doctor specializing in infectious diseases. Dr. Verghese became by necessity the local AIDS expert, soon besieged by a shocking number of male and female patients whose stories came to occupy his mind, and even take over his life. Verghese brought a singular perspective to Johnson City: as a doctor unique in his abilities; as an outsider who could talk to people suspicious of local practitioners; above all, as a writer of grace and compassion who saw that what was happening in this conservative community was both a medical and a spiritual emergency.

Out of his experience comes a startling but ultimately uplifting portrait of the American heartland as it confronts—and surmounts—its deepest prejudices and fears.

I know you all are chopping at the bit to dive into these deliciously interesting reads…or you’re just hoping I shut up about the books, either way I appreciate you are hanging around to read about my crazy love of all things med school. If you are in need of another read that really is one of my favorite non-fiction books, check out the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks! It’s sure to teach you a thing or two, about history, human rights, and science. I think all the best books do.

Let me know what books you will be reading this summer? And if you read these books, maybe we can have a pow wow over email or comments about them!