There was so much emotion around me.

Laughs.

Screams.

Tears.

Jumps of joy.

Hugs.

Kisses. 

It was the day that all medical students across the nation work tirelessly for; a day that determines our future and indisputably seals our fate. Match Day. The fourth years all around me had matched in various specialties in a number of schools around the nation. Most of them matched in the specialty they desired and matched to a school that was within the top 3 choices on their list. It was fantastic to witness all of my 4th year friends finally receive the opportunity to become something that they’ve put an insane amount of hours towards; something that very few people in the world get a chance to be; something that gives them the incredible ability to heal;

A physician.

I was at the Match Day ceremony for maybe 30 minutes max, but all I needed was 5 minutes to fully absorb the magnitude of what was happening around me. In those 5 minutes, I saw with my own eyes what the result of this taxing medical school life will be. In three short years, I’ll be celebrating with my class about our incredible achievement and the fact that our hard work will allow us to secure a stable job & lifestyle that we can keep for the rest of our lives. It was definitely reassuring to witness with my own eyes the light that is waiting for me at the end of this challenging journey. Sure, we all are going to be worked off our ass during our residencies, but at least we’ll be getting paid doing what we love right?

Now that I’m here talking about my future, I’m reminded of what lies ahead of me between now and Match Day of 2019. Second year classes, the USMLE Step 1 Exam *rolling my eyes*, my clinical years where I’m literally paying the school to work me, etc. It looks like an uphill battle…but getting in this position from college was an uphill battle in itself and I’m here aren’t I? I’ve also heard multiple times from different people about how things just get worse from first-year…as well as how much things get better from here. I guess it’s just a matter of perspective. Hell, I’m just happy to be here. I personally plan on maintaining the positive attitude that has gotten me this far. Call me naive if you want, but at least I’m content. 😁

Speaking of being content, I was recently elected to serve on the Ophthalmology Interest Group E-board here as well as on the SNMA E-board as the Community Service Co-Chair! I’m looking forward to working in those positions because both of those organizations have a considerable amount of value to me. They’ll also give me something to do that doesn’t involve me studying for the exams that never stop coming, which I really appreciate. So there’s that.

There’s one more thing I want to add. We’ve been learning all about stroke this past week in class and one of our professors actually had a stroke patient come in to talk to us about what life is like after having one. He had suffered from one a few years ago while doing the simple task of walking a dog with his loved one. Because of his stroke, he can’t see anything in his right visual field, he had to attend physical therapy for an extended period of time in order to relearn how to walk, he’s had to relearn his alphabet and how to do simple math, and he has to concentrate extra hard to process information in a regular conversation. However, he was pretty upbeat and willing to talk and joke around with us about his perspective with the disability. It was a very fascinating conversation. He really helped to put a human face on a topic that we’ve been laboring over for the past week and I feel that he also helped to inspire a number of us in the class to continue working hard towards understanding the intricacies of the brain. It’s scary to think about how sudden a stroke can present itself…it makes me want to get a CT scan of my head and look for any abnormalities. Someone once told me that med school can turn you into a hypochondriac…I’m finally starting to see what they meant by that. 😰

Alright, that’s all of my reflections for today. Go on and have a stupendous week!

Oh yeah, shoutout to all the upsets that have occurred since March Madness started. Y’all never fail to destroy the brackets I work so hard to perfect. 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place. – Nora Roberts

– Black Man, M.D.