“It’s Nothing but Resilience”

What a day. This morning was so long. My coffee tasted off this morning so I didn’t drink it and that offset my whole day. I was so sleepy and tired all morning so it was really hard for me to stay engaged during the lectures. Ms. Kelly Willenberg joined this first thing in the morning and talked to us about research compliance. I was more fascinated with her story; she is so incredibly independent and strong. She lost her husband 5 years ago but still managed to have a successful research business as well as raise two accomplished daughters. Ms. Willenburg talked a lot about clinical trials for patients. I learned that those who work in this field have a lot of patient interactions. Stuff that is studied in a clinical trial can be behaviors, diseases, outcomes, etc. Using clinical trials, the medical field benefits abundantly. New drugs, ways of doing surgery, medical devices are all examples of things that can be discovered through clinical trials. To be a research coordinator, there are no credentials needed like a specific certificate or degree. To guarantee the protection of patients' rights, IRB is a formal board designed to overlook the rights of patients during the trial. Although I don’t see myself directly working in this field, this information will be helpful to know when my patients are involved in research compliance. Next thing NOT on the schedule was the fire alarm🤩. For those 30 mins, a group and I downloaded and played a game called Psych. The app took turns asking a question about each person and whoever’s answer is most clever won the round. This was such a fun way to pass time.

When we got back inside, Jenna did an activity with us called “Physician Shuffle.” She showed pictures of physicians and gave us nothing but their names and asked us to categorize us as either “good” or “bad.” It was really hard to do this but because I knew where it was going; because otherwise I make quick judgments everyday. I was quite surprised to see how many I did get right though. But I really enjoyed the discussion questions afterwards because I learned that implicit biases happen from both ends between physicians and patients. Dr. Cull, vascular surgeon, gave us a brief introduction about his life and then answered any questions we had about his journey. He didn’t have a straight path to surgery. During high school and the beginning of college he didn’t care much about his grades and school in general until it eventually hit him that he wanted to become a surgeon. He worked hard to build his resume, applied to medical school and didn’t get in the first year. He retook his MCAT, reapplied and got in. Dr. Cull worked incredibly hard during med school but still didn’t match into residency. This was yet another failure that he had to combat. He shared with us that this was a really challenging part in his life and he battled depression for the majority of it. We asked how he kept preserving time after time and he kept repeating the fact that he isn’t special from any of us. He shared that “It's nothing but resilience.” Later in the day we wrote letters to rising M1s and I shared Dr. Cull’s story with them. It is important for us to realize that failure is inevitable so it is getting back up that matters. Dr. Cull's story was so touching because although he went through a patchy road, he still made it to his goal of being a successful vascular surgeon.

By this time, everyone was ready to EAT. What do we do instead? Listen to an hour long lecture about food😀. Aside from the fact that we were all hangry, we did learn a lot. It was overwhelming the amount of the things we have to look out for when choosing what to eat: from calories to ingredients to portion sizes etc. I never realized that when one is shopping, they should walk around the outside of the isles first because that's where the produce, deli, diary, and other healthier options are typically located. Towards the end of the lecture Raquel asked if RebBulls are okay to drink. The answer was a definite no. Since I didn’t have coffee and I was falling asleep all morning, take a wild guess what my plans were for lunch… Yeah, to chug a RedBull. I’ll just start next week hehe.

After an energizing lunch and writing letters of encouragement to M1s, it was QPR time. This was hands down the heaviest thing we did all month. Just repeatedly hearing the word “suicide” is tremendously provoking. Unfortunately, two very close people to me have attempted with their life before. Just writing this hurts me because I remember the anxiety I was in during those moments I found out. Luckily, with one of them I was in the room while they were attempting so I was able to be of immediate help. However, the other person was miles away and we were texting about it. When we did the QPR practice online with the texting scenario, I found my leg shaking restless. I wanted to step out the whole time but I knew that I needed to be there. I needed to be there to learn how to handle these situations. Yes, they are anxiety inducing but if that means someone close to me gets to stay, then it is 110% worth it. The following is a picture of my notes during the training.

The last thing we did was talk about how to become a MedEx ambassador; which I will definitely apply for.

I can’t believe this was the last friday of the tier. I grew so incredibly close to these wonderful people in such a short time and can’t wait to grow our friendship even more outside of MedEx. These are people I know I will have by me through all the ups and downs.

Also HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAYLOR!! Tomorrow it’s Olivia’s birthday too!!

Can’t wait for tomorrow!!