I knew Joda [Lynn] before we went to med school. I knew him from church
during undergrad. I knew Christie [Alexander] and I knew Julie [Barré] already
from our MCAT prep class. I knew a couple of other people from biology classes
in undergrad. I studied with one of my classmates’ brothers in undergrad in
physics. I mean, there’s really a small world in this huge university.
We all meshed so well. It was small, but it really laid the foundation for the
College of Medicine, for the kind of students that they accepted. I don’t think
the cutthroat approach to medical education is a good learning environment.
If you don’t feel threatened, you learn so much more, and you just come out a
much better person and a much better doctor.
As a hospitalist [a hospital-based general physician who assumes the care of
hospitalized patients in place of their primary care physician], I routinely have
people that are 85 years or older. I deal with hospice DNRs [“do not resuscitate”
orders]. Using those skills that were drilled into us in medical school is what I do
every day!
I appreciate the experience because it did prepare me for the ability to quickly
build rapport with patients and talk about those tough situations in a caring and
compassionate way when you really need to talk about that information: “Your
family member is dying. What are we doing to do? We need to decide.” I feel like
that’s one of the gifts I have, being able to build rapport. Being at the College of
Medicine really just improved the skill set that I already had.
Being in the inaugural class was an incredibly unique experience, unlike anything
I could have had at any other medical school. Really getting to know the
staff and all of our administrators and teachers so well is an experience that I
know the current students couldn’t possibly have now, not at the level that we
did.
Even with the rollercoaster ride that it was – the ups and downs, the nonaccreditation
and then getting the accreditation, being the guinea pigs for pretty
much everything, the satellite locations, what works in these small groups and
what doesn’t – I still wouldn’t have changed a thing. And it’s just that much better
for the students who are coming to the College of Medicine now. •
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