Post Thanksgiving thoughts . . .

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.

Johnson Oatman, Jr.

Last night I was really challenged when we sang that hymn at church. How often do I find myself complaining to God about the trials of medical school when I should be thankful for so much. I have so many tremendous opportunities every day that I can miss the best of because I’m focused on self and not God. I need to do what Psalm 100 says and trust in His mercy and truth.

100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with
praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

100:5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth
endureth to all generations.

On another note, if you are interested in singing and speaking and how it works I was shown in lecture this morning a really interesting site. It shows a woman’s vocal cords while she made noise.

Back to the grind . . .

Well, it was nice having a change of pace this last week. There are so many things I learned and experienced, probably the funniest of which is that a doctor doesn’t say “Oh, wow!” or “Uh, oh.” Needless to say, I didn’t say “uh, oh” but I did have my fair share of “Oh, wow!”

It is incredible all the little things that doctors do every time they see us that we take for granted. I guess that is part of being an M1, you get to learn all those little things, especially not to say “Oh, wow!” ;-)

Eric

Change of pace x 2

Hey everybody,

If you don’t know, this is my “change of pace” week. For the last 5 weeks I’ve been under a class load of 25 credit hour with 5th week being the culmination in exams. This week however, is a nice change of pace with the course load down to 9 hours and much more learning the practical interacts with patients. Wednesday, I’ll be shadowing my preceptor (local doctor I am apprenticing under) and learning all sorts of new stuff that I’ll never get in medical school. I’ve really been blessed with a great preceptor and I really look forward to learning much more from him.

The second change of pace was this past weekend I drove home and visited with family and friends. It was great getting out on the interstate and reminding myself that there is life outside of the books. I had forgotten that there was a carpool lane and that the speed limit was 70. In fact, I had forgotten what it was like driving 70 mph since my daily commute consists of 2 miles of city driving into school and the same back with nothing in-between but books and studying.

It was great going home, but I am looking forward to getting back to the grind. One more block of Gross (i.e. we finish Gross Anatomy in Dec.) and then no more stink. Not that I don’t enjoy it, but it sure is a lot of work, especially all the time spent dissecting instead of studying. I’ve learned so much about myself and my relationship with Christ in the past 2 months. It has been an incredible eye-opening experience. Needless to say, as I make the appropriate changes, I look forward to learning much more and making more changes toward Christlikeness. Being the first-rate reflection of Christ I should be rather then a reflection of anyone else.

Oh, well. Enough of my rambling.

Have a great day,

Eric

“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.” – Judy Garland