What doesn't kill us now will do so later.

Med school is paradoxical, and at the crux of it all we’re studying all the things that can destroy a person’s health. It would be a correct assumption to believe we are all well versed in risk factors, predispositions, and predilections for certain diseases. And yet in trying to attain our ultimate goal, we do so by sacrificing so many facets of our own health.

I took my second pathology midterm last Tuesday. This was promptly followed by the advanced clinical skills (ACS) practical on Wednesday, and topped off by a microbiology final Friday. This weekend is supposed to be leisurely in that we only have our ACS written midterm this Monday. This semester can be summed up with a mental picture of the torture we've been subjected to. It is of a huge muscular guy, with a bald head, paunch stomach, and a tattoo around his left eye. He is shirtless, wearing a spiked collar, and responds to the name Thor. For the last month Thor had been instructed by my professors to beat the $%*& out of me with his bare hands everyday, and then increase the frequency to twice a day for the last two weeks.

Well, this last day and a half I’ve been trying to recuperate. I learned a lot from the experience and thought “Okay, that hurt, I’m still alive, but I think next time I finally know how to handle Thor". Just when I thought it couldn’t possibly get any worse I checked my schedule for the following month.

Now picture Thor again, only this time my professors have given him a mace with the same instructions. I hope I make it out alive.