May 2nd

It's May 2nd tmr. Start of working life officially. The day I was looking forward to since I set foot into medical school 5 years ago. It's been a long journey and now I'm finally here at the end, or rather at the beginning of it all.

I'm happy, excited but at the same time, there's a good amount of apprehension lingering at the back of my mind. Maybe it's the one week of scary stories that is taking its toll. I dont know.

Yesterday was Dean's office's orientation programme for us, the incoming housemen. One of the seniors spoke to us about her experience as a house officer. She has spoken to us many times before - at the various milestones of medical school i.e. start of clinical years, year 5 and now the start of housemanship. Her talks have always been very inspiring and yesterday's one was no exception. It amazing how she always manages to keep her spirits up and be so positive about everything.

As I listened to her speech and later recited the Physician's pledge with the rest of the class, I was just thinking. About what being a doctor means to me at the end of 5 years in medical school. I remember being asked this question at my medical interview. "What does being a doctor mean to you?" And i remember saying this - Being a doctor means someone who can care and comfort even when he's not able to cure. It must have sounded damn cliche to the interviewers but i truly said this before i heard of the existance of the motto "to cure sometimes, to relieve often and to comfort always".

Now as i'm about to start this journey, all I hope is that I'm able to live up to what I said. And on top of all these, Primum non nocere ( do no harm). I hope I do justice to the 'DR' in front of my name. It's not going to be easy, but I'm gonna try my best.....