With each passing moment did my feverish anticipation, indescribable intrigue and obvious excitement continue to permeate throughout my entire being as I waited and waited for my phone to light up with the clock showing "6:00". This Thursday, the Western Australian Medical Students' Society (WAMSS) held their annual event, "A Day in the Life", where four incredible speakers coming from very different stages of their medical career shared with 50-odd people what it was like to, well, take a step in their worn out, though very much jazzed up with pins, crocs (there's a filter on the Crocs website, here, which recommends some rather snazzy shoes for the fashionable doctor in your life).
Before the seminar began, the wonderful scent of just-pulled-out-of-the-woodfire pizza danced across our noses as people started to bring in the many boxes of free pizza that we were all, I'm sure, looking forward to. Well, I'd hope it wasn't the only thing people were excited about! Standing in the foyer of the physics building, I enjoyed a couple of slices ('twas my dinner, to be honest) with my best friend (also an aspiring doctor!!), Simran, as we laughed at whatever it was that we laughed about (probably the stupidity of some members of the male populace) and it was nice because we also met someone new.
Having been surrounded by so many intelligent people only made me that much more stressed about my future, however, a bit of hope was instilled when Marissa, one of the speakers of the night, said that the very person who is the top of her class, is the same one who's failed a cannulation six times in a row. Six times. Now, I don't think I could do any better but nevertheless, that gave me the piece of hope I needed to remember that this isn't just a dream, but a goal.
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| Images from WAMSS |
The first speaker of the night was Marissa Loh, a second year med student with an awfully contagious smile. I admired her seemingly endless list of involvement within the community; from the Dr Yes program to the Institute for Indian Mother and Child in Kolkata organisation, I was further inspired to become more involved in my surroundings and made well aware of the fact that life isn't just about study. She still somewhat had this bright-eyed and bushy-tailed way about her that most young med students have, but that's probably just due to her naturally bright and bubbly presence. I was elated to hear the life of a med student from the perspective of somebody so close in age to I as I had a glimpse into my very near future (I hope!)
Despite being in the clinical phase of med school, I was surprised to hear that Marissa still had time to do the things she loved, that is, finding time to travel, go out with friends and, of course, take the obligatory brunch pic that you then post to Instagram; if the filter, lighting, contrast and brightness are good enough, of course. I'd always thought that med students, even the bright-eyed and bushy-tailed first year med students, had insane timetables which allowed little to no means of flexibility. Yes, it's imperative that you find time to study every single day and that yes, it's important you attend every lecture, but if you're organised and are able to manage your time well, you'll be able to do whatever keeps you sane.
Jeremy Rogers, the second speaker of the night, is a fourth year med student who's taken an interest in emergency and intensive care medicine over the past couple of years that he's spent working within the wards of some of Perth's hospitals. Firstly, I was enraptured by his eloquence and confident stance where his way with words seemed to flow out of his mouth with rarely an "umm" or "ahh" in sight. He had emphasised the opportunities med school presented in terms of travel, where he took time to learn and practice medicine in Albany.
His inclusion of gifs and medical memes, an attempt to appeal to a predominately young audience of 18 to early 20 year olds, throughout his presentation was, whilst jarring to say the least, did provide a couple of laughs; some of which I must restrain myself from sharing in this very post. It was the little things like that which made me remember the humanity that each and every one of those speakers possess because no, they're not gods; no, they're not some deity with a stethoscope. They're human. And although I do hold doctors and most people within the scientific community with such high regard, there is no god so what makes them the exception? (N/A: if you disagree with me on the "no god" statement, just remember that this is my blog; a home for my thoughts where correcting me on factual things with empirical evidence is welcome, even if it's concerning any grammatical errors I've made). Anyway, I wish Jeremy all my luck as he will be sitting his final exams as a med student next week. How scary is that?
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| I can't, for some reason, find the source of this image but I do know where the rose gold stethoscope is from, so yay? |
Perhaps the speaker I most enjoyed (though in fairness, all four speakers gave invaluable advice and were equally as inspiring) was Dr Daniel Dorevitch (damn, dat (d)alliteration). As a current intern at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, it was interesting to hear from the perspective of a doctor who has completed rotations in areas such as general medicine and the ICU. I was enthralled by the stories he shared—for instance, his innate sense of care and responsibility to his patients where despite being wrong in his diagnosis, he persisted that something wasn't right with his patient—by his humour and wit but most importantly, his advice.
He said that in your undergraduate years, you have all the time in the world to have fun; to be social and to become involved. He said that if you tell your friends that you can't go somewhere, that's probably "bullshit" (his words, not mine) and that this is the time of your life where you're basically expected to engage in catastrophic affairs—much like how you would see in a typical American teen movie—and out-of-control parties, perhaps this is only a stereotype because I know that for me and my personality, I wouldn't be able to cope with being so social all the damn time! However, until he said those words, I didn't realise how much time I actually do have. It's just that my version of fun is to spend a relaxing night in binge-watching Gilmore Girls with a face mask on, half-dozing off, half "oh shit, what just happened?" As I've stated plenty of times before, do whatever your idea of fun is. That's how you keep sane.
The last speaker of the night, Dr Michael Winlo, was especially interesting considering his journey on a path one wouldn't think to take with a medical degree in hand. Having served as the CEO at Linear Clinical Research since 2016, Dr Winlo has shown that despite having a stethoscope and lab coat, you needn't open up a GP or run about in a hospital to do your part in the world. Instead, he was dressed in a well-tailored suit and had a lanyard around his neck as he was holding an iPad in one hand and a pen in the other; he was indeed more corporate than he was medical.
Dr Winlo had a low, soft-speaking voice which somehow boomed with a sense of authority, you know the sort of "I know what I'm doing without sounding obnoxious" quality that only a number of people possess. He shared with us his passion for clinical medicine, digital health and data analysis, emphasising the importance of garnering a knowledge of the latter in particular. He spoke of the trend towards digital note-taking, that is, taking notes on devices within a hospital setting and although I was skeptical of this, I don't think I could provide a proper viewpoint until I hear the full benefits of switching from a pen and paper to a tablet and app. All in all, I enjoyed hearing from someone who didn't walk the more obvious path of one's medical career, showing that the mechanics and the information systems behind the medical field itself is equally as important as those who practice it.
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I was overwhelmed by the exorbitant levels of intelligence, the wisdom and of course, the wit of the four extraordinary people who took the time out of their undeniably busy schedule to share with us their day as a medical student/doctor. I must recall that as soon as Marissa started talking, I felt goosebumps suddenly appearing all over my body as I couldn't take in the fact that this could potentially be my future. Perhaps I do look from such a naive perspective and clearly I don't know how it actually feels to be in their shoes as I lack the fundamental experience to do so, but I've managed to gain from this a newfound, or rather, enhanced, sense of community as I am now far more inspired and more compelled to take part in all subsequent events run by WAMSS and perhaps events run by the wider community. It is why I'm going to give my hand in the Zonta Birthing Kit Night next month where I, along with hundreds of others, will craft a birthing kit that includes soap, a scalpel, latex gloves etc. to enable a clean and safe birth for mothers and their newborns living in developing countries.
I was overrun by a sort of high which propelled me to not only think about becoming more engaged in the wider community, but to actively do something about it. I've not been able to share every bit of advice that was given on the night as, to be honest, I'm still trying to process what was said even right now; for so many incredible minds and so many incredible words were spoken, wisdom shared, to the point where I just can't simply place it down on paper (well, on tablet or phone). It's pieces of information that are invaluable to me; pieces of information that you need to be able to gain and understand for yourselves. I have a little something that Simran said about the event and honestly, I could not have said it better myself:
The event was immensely motivating and provided me with a new perspective on medical school and my journey towards it. I've realised how important it is for me to pursue a career in medicine. Moreover, I can't wait for the day I'm on the other side, sharing my journey with others and hopefully inspiring them like how Marissa, Dan, Michael and Jeremy inspired me.
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To be able to surround myself in such an environment, where many exuded such confidence in ways I could only dream of, it was an honour to talk to people who will make, I'm sure, such a profound difference to the world. It is why I aspire to be like them, why my parents have invested so much faith in me (and almost made me tear up during the car ride home seeing as the conversation we had that night was filled with nothing but support and love), and why I want to be a doctor. It is through which I wish Marissa, Jeremy, Dr Dorevitch and Dr Winlo the best of luck on all their future endeavours and I cannot wait to read, or hopefully hear, about their unquestionable successes.
I'm sorry that I can't properly express how deeply I felt (feel) about this opportunity but I hope you enjoyed reading this anyway,
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