A Medical Student's Guide to Surviving 2020
What. A. Year.
What feels like an eternity has only been 10 months. It has demanded flexibility and resiliency from us all. As a third-year medical student, I’ve entered the clinical years of my education at an interesting time.
As a second-year student in the spring, my classmates and I never returned to campus after spring break. What was supposed to be a spring full of board studying, celebrations and spending our remaining on-campus months with one another -- alongside the faculty and staff we’d grown to love and admire -- was cut short and redirected to online learning.
Our university adapted quickly to the dynamic COVID-19 guidelines and began to shape our new normal. Many of our exam dates for our boards were cancelled, rescheduled or put in limbo. You know, just the most important exam to date that second-year medical students already stress out about.
Okay, fine, we can adapt.
We celebrated our clinician ceremony online with beloved faculty speeches and parting words before embarking on new journeys to the states that fulfill PNWU’s mission. Many of us were in the thick of studying for board exams for endless hours during the day while the country was in civil unrest.
Protests exploded across the country and Black Lives Matter came to the forefront. I struggled justifying my time focusing on nephrotic syndromes of the kidney and hormone signaling pathways while communities around me marched, protested and demanded change in their country. I frequently asked myself: “How is what I’m doing right now making a difference?”
I had discussions with classmates, who became close friends, who felt the same. I came to realize the most important action I could take was to stay focused on my path so that someday I, as a physician, could advocate for my patients and be a voice in our communities. Keep studying, stay focused, be resilient.
Okay, fine, we can adapt.
COVID-19 has changed the landscape for many of our clinical rotations. Many of us began in online remote rotations or time away to study for our boards exams that were canceled for social distancing procedures. A few months of third year have gone by and I see classmates finding their passions through rotation experiences. Others are waiting for that day to come.
Okay, fine, we can adapt.
Murder hornets were a thing there for a while. Beirut exploded. Tiger King captivated many of us. Public figures, like Kobe Bryant and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, tragically passed away, along with the more than two hundred thousand lost to COVID in the U.S. Many of us have experienced loss, sadness and anxiety.
For months, we clung to the freedom of getting outside as our best medicine to properly socially distance. Then came the west coast wildfires that hit close to home (literally) for many of us. Smoke cloaked the west coast and made going outside hazardous.
Okay, fine, we can adapt.
A friend on social media said it best: We have made it to the next level of “Jumanji.”
I wonder what our futures hold as soon-to-be physicians. I truly can’t anticipate what will happen in this next year. To be honest, with the way things are going, I can’t anticipate what will happen in the next hour. What I do know confidently is that I am exactly where I need to be.
People still get sick and still need our help. Patients continue to fill hospitals, clinics and emergency rooms. Learning doesn’t stop just because we now wear masks for an entire shift. Amongst the chaos of the world, if I can be the difference for just one patient a day, I would consider that successful.
Okay fine, I will adapt.
Ciara Gorman
Third-Year Osteopathic Medical Student (OMS III)
Student Ambassador
Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences