As MS4 (the final year of medicine school) comes to an end, so does my entire Medical School Experience. It's truly hard to wrap my head around the fact that I am no longer a full time student. I reflect on the medical school experience in a separate post, but in this post I wanted to share the accomplishments of my colleagues and peers. During the last months of medical school, I was invited to celebrate at two award dinners.

Our first outing was to celebrate those inducted into the AOA (Alpha Omega Alpha) honor society. Medical students are elected into AOA as a new MS3 (third year medical student) or a new MS4 (fourth year). Election into the society is primarily based on academic achievement, but other factors that influence election include volunteering, scientific achievement, clinical reviews and personal evaluations.

At the AOA dinner, we shared conversation amongst our table and listened to Bob Arnold, MD, a well known palliative care doctor, give a talk on achievement. He stressed the importance of not always defaulting to “delayed gratification”. The AOA students sitting in the room were the masters of delayed gratification - putting off todays pleasures in lieu of tomorrow's rewards and achievements.. But his warning was not to delay everything.  Enjoying the moments and enjoying the journey takes discipline too!  This has been my personal goal of finding a balance between enjoying the days while simultaneously preparing for the years ahead.  It requires being mindful and aware.

Finally, in the last days of medical school, Paul and I attended the Graduation Awards Luncheon. I was fortunate to be selected as the student award winner from our Department of Dermatology. One of the awards I won was in honor of a dermatologist who introduced me to the area of medicine, without every knowing. Lisa Grandinetti, MD.  She sat at the table (Lean In, ya!) in a room full of prestigious, and at times intimidating, doctors and provided care for a patient who was struggling with the skin manifestations of inflammatory bowel disease. Watching her care for patients made me want to explore the field.  She was already battling cancer, and we never were formally introduced to one another.  It is sobering to receive the award, but I hope that I can do the same someday, as she did for me.

At the final banquet we celebrated our last week of medical school and the outstanding achievements of our class. It was humbling to hear of all of the things my classmates were doing inside and outside of the classroom. I cannot wait to follow the careers of my colleagues, and I have been feverishly adding my colleagues on LinkedIN so I can watch their accomplishments unfold. Stay inspired my friends!

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