students that decide to pursue medicine tend to be the Cream of the Crop. not only have they gotten past the (usually stringent) application process for that particular school, they have also shown determination to do well in a field that is incredibly intimidating.

and sometimes i think it’s tough going from a classroom where you were a big fish with lots of little plankton, into a smaller fishbowl filled with a lot of other big fish.

“Praise your friends in public. Correct them in private.”
~ Leonardo daVinci

this quote was included by our anatomy professor in a lecture last week. he always likes to add a little life lesson gem at the beginning of class and this one was particularly timely right after the first set of exams when a lot of people seemed to be comparing grades and study techniques.

i am really very pleased to say that there doesn’t seem to be a lot of competition in our class so far. almost everyone goes out of their way to help each other both inside and outside of the classroom. i think it’s fantastic. it probably helps that we are from — quite literally — all over North America and a lot of us won’t be competing with each other for the same residency spots.

whatever the reason, it’s nice to feel like a school of big fish efficiently hunting together, rather than trying to “best” each other for those little bitty pieces of plankton.

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.