A few days ago I came across a list of questions which supposedly create intimacy between two people, even strangers. That's not the point of this post. The point is, one of the questions was "If you knew you were going to die in a year, would you keep doing what you're doing now, or would you change something about your life?"
And my immediate answer was "I would be on the next plane to Tchad, helping people and making sure my life mattered."
That brought up a few things, as you can imagine. I have a giant exam in a few days, and that's obviously stressful. And I do know why I'm doing this. Med school. I am quite clear on that, and I'm enjoying it. But... wouldn't my time be better spent learning by doing?
I don't ever want to feel what I felt when Salomé died in front of me in Tchad. I still tear up when I think of it. But is 6 years of book learning better than going off to the bush right now and seeing first hand... everything? Is a framed piece of paper (diploma) really better than 6 years of learning by actually working with patients and saving people on a daily basis?
In case you're wondering, I'm actually doing pretty damn good in med school. That's not why I'm thinking about all this. I just really miss Tchad, and all this book learning so far has taught me nothing I can use *in Tchad.*
I need to actually *do* something here pretty quick. I love books, but I'm going stir crazy.
Thoughts, anyone?
And my immediate answer was "I would be on the next plane to Tchad, helping people and making sure my life mattered."
That brought up a few things, as you can imagine. I have a giant exam in a few days, and that's obviously stressful. And I do know why I'm doing this. Med school. I am quite clear on that, and I'm enjoying it. But... wouldn't my time be better spent learning by doing?
I don't ever want to feel what I felt when Salomé died in front of me in Tchad. I still tear up when I think of it. But is 6 years of book learning better than going off to the bush right now and seeing first hand... everything? Is a framed piece of paper (diploma) really better than 6 years of learning by actually working with patients and saving people on a daily basis?
In case you're wondering, I'm actually doing pretty damn good in med school. That's not why I'm thinking about all this. I just really miss Tchad, and all this book learning so far has taught me nothing I can use *in Tchad.*
I need to actually *do* something here pretty quick. I love books, but I'm going stir crazy.
Thoughts, anyone?
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