Perhaps those most likely to read this--students and perhaps aspiring students--are among those most affected by this phenomenon known as studying. I have not devoted much time to thinking about this conceptually, as when I am consumed by "studying" I have no time for philosophical meanderings, and when I am not, I have little desire to relive past moments of potential agony. But maybe that last word is too strong.

Yes, I take it back: it is inaccurate to describe studying as agony. And yet isn't that our "chief complaint" as students? Haven't we created a culture in which the act of studying is a necessary evil instead of a celebrated and glorified, core part of our occupation? Should we attempt to shift our attitude toward reading lecture slides, creating flash cards, and listening to our dear professors at 2x speed?

Our job as medical students prescribes us to continue to further our knowledge of the human body, mind, and spirit--but this demand does not cease in four years with the conferral of the consonants. We who have determined to become physicians have also (perhaps unconsciously) chosen to be students until the day we die--or at least until the day we stop practicing medicine. I project that few of us will stop even then.

My challenge, in my short 2.5 months of school, has been to continue to explore humanity in the midst of my studies. I predict this to be easier when our curriculum requires us to be with Normal people. Right now, we mostly interact with other medical students, and sometimes I feel like we are becoming brainwashed so that we are forgetting how to relate to the outside world.

I'm not sure what I'm trying to say. I might be trying to convince myself that my hours of studying are actually a lot more fun than they seem. I might be trying to acknowledge that there is a difference between being a full-time student (now) and being a part-time student (later). I might just be trying to put off my own studying by writing this blog. Maybe it's (d) all of the above.

I left a lot of unfinished thoughts. Feel free to respond to any of them. Thank you for reading my inaugural post. Best wishes from Ann Arbor.