Reflections of a Rising MS2

Reflections of a Rising MS2

Erin Cooley, MS1 (MS2 now I suppose), WAFP Student Trustee

My first year of medical school year is over! For all you physicians for whom med school is a distant memory, this is indeed big deal. It marks the consummation of years of arduous academic work, rigorous health volunteer experiences, and serious introspection on my part.  It signals the achievement of a goal I had pursued long and hard.  Of course, I thought the hard part was over when I received the phone call letting me know I’d been accepted to the University of Washington School of Medicine. Ha! This year made it clear I was taking only the first step of a whole new phase of achieving and striving. But with MS 1 behind me, I feel I'm on my way.

For those of you may not remember your first medical school year, let me remind you a little of the whirlwind MS 1 journey. Our year was jumpstarted with gross anatomy “boot camp” that bonded our class unlike any other experience. I struggled with seeing my first dead body in the form of my cadaver and being confronted with the reality of life and death while simultaneously in awe of the intricacies of the biological mechanisms that allow us to exist.  The macroscopic gross anatomy was juxtaposed with the microscopic in histology and biochemistry.   Winter quarter we returned to our cadavers for musculoskeletal anatomy and cell physiology. I was enthralled by all the minuscule innervations and origins and insertion that work together and allow me to walk to my self-assigned seat in the lecture hall. In the spring, neuroscience and microbiology were woven together to give us an understanding of the command center of the body and it’s tenuous relationship with microbes housed both within and outside of ourselves.  Ever time I studied for a final exam I was astounded by the sheer quantity of facts I had mastered, or fit in my brain long enough to pass the exam. I cross my fingers that it’s true when they say all the important things will be repeated over and over and over. Because as fascinating as I found most of the material, I’ll be honest, I barely remember what ventral tegmental area does, or what the tendons that make up the “snuff box” in the wrist are. 

I found the MS1 year difficult for many reasons.  The transition back to the classroom was more challenging than expected after two years of working side by side with patients and providers in clinics.  Not only that, I had to learn to balance my new friends and future colleagues—the people who will truly understand the what the transformation into becoming a doctor entails—with my community and family within Seattle who knew my pre-medical school self to the core.  Then there was the challenge of trying to maintain the “person” parts of me—my interests and passions outside of medicine—while managing to pass my classes and feel confident that I am learning the facts and skills that will make me a good doctor. Thankfully mentors abound in my new environment and they consistently remind me of what I am working towards as well as modeling well-rounded and healthy lives outside of clinic. They remind me of The Big Picture and that keeps me going. 

The Big Picture for me continues to come back to my passion for the underserved and for rectifying the unfortunate realities of our difficult medical system. This passion continued to grow with the stories and experiences my fellow classmates shared with me as well as the patient’s stories I listened to in the hospitals and at my preceptorship. I am grateful for the physicians in the community who have modeled for me the kind of clinical and advocacy and work that I hope to continue in my career as a physician.

The other picture that keeps me motivated is a global one that I hope to recapture as I now head off to South America for my “last summer of freedom.”  Based on a community needs assessment, I will develop a project specifically designed to serve rural communities outside of Cuzco, Peru. The time I spent in this area five years ago is what first inspired me to become active for health and social justice as a physician.  I hope to reconnect to my inspiration as well as gain a better understanding of what health care means in a worldwide context. The program that I'll work under is called the Global Health Immersion Program. Interestingly, it underwent an intentional name change from International Health Opportunity Program. The reason for this is that health issues are not international in the sense that we can draw a line between heath concerns in our country and health concerns in other countries. The health concerns plaguing those in Africa or Asia or Latin America all find their way to our back yard.  We cannot separate ourselves from our neighbors.

This fall, as I enter what they say will be the hardest quarter of my undergraduate medical education, I hope that my experiences this summer, and the awe that I felt this first year of classes, will continue to forge me into a truly compassionate and competent physician. I want to be able to hold on to the faces of the people I meet in the rural Andean villages in my head as I memorize the intricate workings of the cardiovascular or reproductive systems.  They will keep me grounded on those late nights of studying.