So They Think I'm a Doctor

Yesterday was a mixture of emotions (good) and marked the end of our week of orientation here at Quillen COM. The day was defined by the White Coat Ceremony. We all marched into the VA Theatre on campus and were seated on stage. The dean and some others then proceeded to speak to us about the significance of the coats we were about to don and the career which we are about to begin. They told us how we would never be viewed the same again. People would being to view us as "doctor" their physician, their healer, their counselor, their confidant. What a wide arrange of shoes I'm going to learn to have to fill. The dean humorously spoke of how of when we went home for Thanksgiving of how our friends, neighbors and family members would suddenly flock to us, as if the three months of training we had received had already added an M.D. to our name. I think my response will be, "Give me another 4 years and then I'll tell you what you have."
After the cloaking, the COM Humanism Scholarship Award winner was announced. As the speaker described the qualities in selecting the recipient, I couldn't help but think how I had learned about many of those qualities through my class on service learning, my experiences with my "patients" in the inner-city clinics, and my time spent abroad in Central America. "Could I possibly be the recipient?" I asked myself, but then reminded myself that I was part of a class of 60 of the best and brightest in the region, all well-qualified and active in changing their world. When the speaker announced that I was indeed the recipient, I nervously stood up and walked to the podium to receive the award. I stared out into the sea of proud parental faces, and my eyes fixated on two beaming countenances, those of my parents as they stood up to be recognized as well. What an honor it was to bring such joy to them; seeing the pride in their face I think was worth more than the small amount of scholarship money that was given along with the nice plaque that now hangs in my study.
The coordinators of the event spared no expense with the reception. Everything from barbequed shrimp to stuffed mushrooms to chicken croissants to delectable cheescake brownies was on the buffet. Too bad this coming week will be devoid of free lunches. Guess I'll have to wait until I have my own practice and am wooed by the drug reps. Tomorrow is the first day of my career. I've spent the entire afternoon printing off this week's notes, and I should probably be reading over those now so I don't get behind (it's not even the first day and I already feel behind). It should be a busy week of trying to drink water from an open fire hydrant, so to speak.