Medical School Observation

The Medical School rotation took place at Graves Hall, or 333 W. 10th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, in room 187. There, we learned from Dr. Georgia Paletta (whose email we were not given) that the mission statement of the Ohio State University College of Medicine was to improve people’s lives through innovation in research, education and patient care. There, a new curriculum has been put into place, exposing the students to many real life scenarios and valuable patient interactions. During the talk about their school, applications, and preparations, Dr. Georgia Patella and four medical students imparted various insightful stories about their experiences. Through the talk, the curriculum of the College of Medicine at the Ohio State University was discussed. Students take part in a new four year, three part curriculum where students in their first nine weeks are exposed to
their first live patient and continue to work with a doctor every other week to practice clinic skills and medical knowledge application. In addition, a large portion of their work and students seem to be dedicated to serving others. While somewhat similar to my brother’s first year at the University of Toledo College of Medicine due to the end of the year patient interaction exams, my brother was not given exposure to actual, live patients his entire first year and was taught anatomy in a block class, forcing him to cram hundreds of pages of information a night. The integration of classes throughout the first two years before Board Exams at the Ohio State University allows the students to continuously revisit material to better understand and remember it. The medical school my brother attends also emphasizes research over service. Therefore, the rotation allowed me to learn more about various curriculums that I had not been aware about, as well as informed me about why the College of Medicine at the Ohio State University was such as great medical school. On top of informing me about the medical school, the rotation also brought back into consideration going to medical school.
I was already considering attending medical school, but my considerations were further reinforced when one of the medical students told a story: One day, an old lady walked into her patient room, with her elderly husband and another family member waiting outside the room. When the doors closed, she burst into tears. Her husband has Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and she had a hard time being able to take care of him, but was conflicted about entering him into a nursing home. It was being able to counsel her, reassure her, and then see the impact the student had on her that sparked the student’s motivation to pursue medicine and to persevere through. Those moments are the ones that I am looking for in my career. Moments where I can see the change I have made onto someone else’s life or world. Whether it be through medicine and healing others or through making social change in our world, I want to make a difference. Most likely, I will go into medicine, if my interest
continues.