Hello everyone and happy holidays! I just finished my 5th term in medical school, 2 full years of classes, meaning that I am officially 1/2 a doctor :D. I can’t believe how fast time has gone, I will be writing my first USMLE board exam come march then moving into clinical rotations in the states come May/June. This means I am officially done with Grenada, moving out and back to Canada for a few months. I am currently in Maui HI for the holidays and a bit of a break before I hit the books for my exam. As always, I want to finish off another semester with a post about what I have learned this term. So here we go….

You learn a lot about life from listening to your patients.

Imagine people telling you their inner most secrets about their lives, health and bodies. Now as an external party I try to be as impartial and professional as I can, but that doesn’t mean people’s stories do not impact me in a big way. I learn a lot from the patients I engage with, not only from a medical perspective but social, cognitive and emotional domain as well. Besides the general medical protocol I now try to gain something else, wether it is insight into how this person may be feeling, what they have been through or what they can teach me when I walk into the examination room. It is not only medicine that I am interested in but the human condition, which keeps me searching for more knowledge. I hope to further cultivate this mindfulness throughout my practice as a physician and learn more about life and myself from my interaction with people throughout the years.

Change is a growing experience.

I can’t believe I’m already finished with my medical classes and basic science years. It’s one of those things that feels fast when you look at it in hindsight but slow while you are in it lol. I remember moving to Grenada, I was terrified to leave home and move to a different country. It was an amazing experience though, and I have gotten a lot better with change over the last few years. I now realize that change is an essential part of personal growth. Putting yourself in new situations challenges your sense of identity and forces you to look at the world in a new way. I am very thankful for this revelation and welcome this new chapter of my life with open arms. It was difficult saying goodbye to the island and all of the memories I’ve made there. This made me realize though, every time in your life serves a purpose and I had completed mine in Grenada. I now move on knowing that I’ve fully engaged in that phase of my life and am ready for the next :).

Every phase in your life has a purpose.

On that note, every phase in your life serves a purpose. I have lived a few different versions so far… lifeguard, undergraduate student, masters degree, workforce and now medical school. I’ve learned that every phase in your life is there to teach you more about yourself and who you are. It’s interesting that the experiences I needed to learn and grow have been provided to me through what I was doing every step of the way. The key is reflection and finding meaning in lives subtleties, or in many cases it comes along and smacks you right in the head lol. I look at every new step as a challenge I need to complete and experience, gaining skills academically, physically, emotionally and cognitively. One of my friends put it perfectly to me the other day before we left the island. He turned to me and said “the Grenada level is complete”. He was refereeing to this phase of our lives as some sort of badge to be won or game to complete. But I understood what he meant ;).

You create your own happiness not external circumstances.

Living and going to school in Grenada presented unique hardships. From getting sick and being medically evacuated in second term, to living in a different country with life threatening allergies. For me the island was not a piece of cake. Through this I learned that happiness is not an elusive external force to be chased, but something you need to cultivate within. Life circumstances are never going to be perfect, the key is to find meaning and light everyday. The more I accepted this the happier I became and the easier life seemed to flow. Too many people say, when I get this job, or loose that much weight, or obtain something else in life I will be happy. Unfortunately, when they do obtain that object or circumstance it is unfulfilling. This is because happiness comes from within, not without and you have to be at peace with yourself to fully realize harmony :).

If you want something do it now.

Another thing I realized is time goes super fast. One day I was fresh out of grad school thinking about applying to medical school and the next I’m already half way through it! Furthermore, nothing is guaranteed in life, meaning that you need to value every day you’re living your purpose. This uncertainty of life, and it’s tendency to speed along at a rocket pace means time is of the essence! If you want something do it now, start something knew, apply for a new job or go and see that exotic destination you have always dreamed about. Now I’m not saying drop everything and change your life dramatically as in some sort of dissociated fugue lol. What I’m trying to convey is to live the life you want right know because that passion becomes someday and then maybe one day pretty quickly. You have a finite amount of time on this earth, live it too your full potential and dreams <3.

On that note, I feel like I have been pretty good at following my own words of wisdom lately ;). Not only did I do really well in medial school over the last few years, but I used the extra time to discover the island and all it had to offer. Below I have linked a video compilation of some of the adventures we have had, from diving, to hiking and kayaking! Over the next few weeks I will be chilling in Maui so look out for a travel blog some time in Jan 2017 :). Then it’s on to the next big thing, boards, clinical rotations and finishing off my last 2 years in medical school. Till next time,

Aloha,

Jackie.