Home stretch

Thanksgiving break corresponds with the home stretch of this semester. With 2 weeks of class before 1 week of final exams, I am almost 1/8th of a doctor. 1/8th, I have been told, is a far cry from 1 whole doctor, and I could not agree more with that notion. This semester has been filled with anatomy lectures, human development, biochemical pathways, and of course, lots and lots of dissection. There is something both incredible and unbelievable about the once in a lifetime experience that is human anatomy lab. To hold a human heart, or remove a brain at the brain stem provides a host of emotions. However, all of lab has not been quite so inspiring - human bodies have lots of fat. Ultimately, I can only dream of true patient interactions while I continue to slave over the cytochrome P450's involved in alcohol metabolism and the enzymes required for steroid hormone synthesis. If I have learned anything this semester, I suppose it is that (1)every detail has its place and will at some point be important, and (2) that "this too shall pass."