My Own Medical Narrative

Teaching future doctors led me down a hard, strange path

Remember when I got that EMT? And the scorched, exhausted vibe I’ve been giving off the last two years? Well it all culminated last Sunday in a brutal gauntlet called “The Big Hurt.” Afterwards, with my body pretty much broken, I swam alongside fellow candidates to a boat moored offshore, expecting more torture, but instead we received our uniforms, thrown to us in sealed plastic bags. At last, swimming back to shore, each of us clutched that bag and confronted the fact that, in that moment, we’d earned the right to wear those iconic red shorts. The picture above is me emerging from the sea, ready for the next chapter in a weird, lucky life. I’ll still be teaching, of course, but summers I’ll be on the beach.

Have a good Memorial Day, and drop me a line if it’s been a while or I owe you something! I’m doing my best to catch up.