In the first part of a two-part reflection, Scott Santibanez shared some theological reflections on the liminal space of graduate school. In Part 2, he shares some of his own story. It was 1991, during the summer between my first and second years of medical school. I was in the basement of a Christian clinic in Times Square. The clinic provided free medical care for homeless people in New York City. I was filling up a tub with warm soapy water so one of our homeless clients could soak his feet. And I loved doing … [Read more...] about Encountering God in the Liminality of Graduate School, Part 2
medical school
Do Doctors Make Bank?
Summer had finally emerged and we were sitting out on my front steps, enjoying the afternoon heat and watching some of the other kids play out on the street. Some of the teenagers were casually tossing a football around, throwing it high and watching it bounce among the electrical wires, tree branches, and car windows before skittering along the pavement to be chased endlessly by the smaller children. Others were riding their bicycles for show, popping up the front wheel as they furiously pumped their pedals to … [Read more...] about Do Doctors Make Bank?
Rituals of Annotation
I am not exactly sure of what prompted me to do it, but I began keep ing a tally of all the pro nounce ments I have done. A pronouncement is that act in which a doctor officially declares a person to be dead. Some deaths are theatric spec tac les involving beep ing mon i tors, electric shocks, and crack ing chest car ti lage. These tend to be chaotic, gritty, and conclusive as in the TV shows, sometimes ending with a dis traught physician intoning, “Time of death. . . .” However, most pro nounce ments … [Read more...] about Rituals of Annotation
The Pursuit of Suffering
I watched the grainy, blocky video in silence. My friend was singing “Land slide” and I felt a cer tain taut ness in my eye brows and a pecu liar heavi ness in the cor ners of my mouth. By now it had become a famil iar feel ing, this phys i cal expres sion of sorrow. Can the child within my heart rise above Can I sail through the chang ing ocean tides Can I han dle the sea sons of my life?” ~Fleet wood Mac, “Land slide,” The Dance, 1997 Sonia Lee '06, whose mel low and res o nant voice was … [Read more...] about The Pursuit of Suffering
Introductions: Dissection of body and soul
Medical school is mostly boring and the parts that are not are often tragic, which is why few people write about the experience. Prospects facing newly-minted residents and attendings are not much better, as the overwhelming secularization of a discipline once seen as divine has fueled financial exploitation, divisive politics, and increasing frustration, cynicism, and disillusionment in those who once sought something more meaningful. While there have been exponential gains in scientific understanding and treatment … [Read more...] about Introductions: Dissection of body and soul