Part 5 of my graduation speech accompanied a series of photos. Formatting and phrasing reflect the oral presentation. “People come and go in our lives; that’s as old a story as there is. But some of them the heart cries out to keep forever; and that is a fresh saga every time.” – Ivan Doig, The Bartender’s Tale Writing helps me remember, process, and think…
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Part 4 of my speech given at residency graduation. Formatting and phrasing reflect oral presentation. Why Pediatric Otolaryngology? Kids are amazing. They think outside the box and ask questions no one else would ask. They’re either practically invulnerable or entirely medically fascinating. Pediatric Otolaryngology allows me to do subspecialized surgery without giving up any major aspects of ENT. But there’s more to it than that….
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Part 3 of speech given at residency graduation. Organization and phrasing reflect oral presentation. There are two kinds of medical students: those who enjoy every specialty, and those who hate all but one. I was the former, which made it difficult to choose. In the middle of third year, I did General Surgery at a busy community hospital. I spent six weeks working everything to…
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Part 2 of speech given at residency graduation. Organization and phrasing reflects oral presentation. “Why does anybody tell a story? It does indeed have something to do with faith. Faith that the universe has meaning, that our little human lives are not irrelevant, that what we choose or say or do matters, matters cosmically.” – Madeleine L’Engle In high school, I realized four years of…
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Part 1 of speech given at residency graduation. Organization and phrasing reflects oral presentation. In medical school, we often refer to our first year anatomy class cadaver as our first patient. I knew my first patient long before medical school, though, and she is very much alive. This story begins in Seattle, in 1987, in a sixth-floor apartment four blocks from Pike Place Market. In…
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Preface to speech given at residency graduation. Organization and phrasing reflects oral presentation. “The three things I cannot change are the past, the truth, and you.” – Anne Lamott, Thanks, Help, Wow: the Three Essential Prayers. After five years, I’ve concluded that the toughest thing about residency isn’t actually the practice of medicine or the learning of surgery. Rather the toughest thing is how much…
Read More"Yes, Caleb, love. Love costs. It always costs. Sometimes it costs everything." Island of the World, Michael D. O'Brien
Two years of medical school classes flew by, followed by three brutal weeks of preparation for the USMLE. “Enjoyed” doesn’t adequately describe the excitement, inquisitiveness, and joy I experienced when I finally left the classroom and board exams behind to take care of patients. Every rotation brought new challenges, which I embraced wholeheartedly. Then, in the middle of third year, I did General Surgery at a…
Read MoreStill, there are times I am bewildered by each mile I have traveled, each meal I have eaten, each person I have known, each room in which I have slept. As ordinary as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination. Interpreter of Maladies, by Jhumpa Lahiri
Residency is best described in the immortal words of Dickens: “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.”
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