1969

My dad gave me his Physiology I notes from when he was in medical school in 1969. I'm in awe of these notes. They are so beautifully organized. I can see the colored pencil that he "highlighted" the typewritten words with. I like his handwritten notes on the margins. His handwriting in 1969 has a tinge of his 2011 handwriting.. you can see where it might all fall apart in the future, but he writes so legibly in these notes. I love it.
It's amazing to read the same words about renal function from 42 years ago that I'm learning this semester. I haven't had the time to scour through the pages and see what has been discovered since then. It just seems like there is just so much more detail now. (I'll blip a better page of his notes in the future; I was in a slight hurry before my Histology exam this afternoon to take more time and grab my tripod.)

My dad told me that each student in his medical school class contributed $200 to hire a full-time secretary to transcribe their notes for each class. So this secretary was paid $35,000/yr to transcribe each lecture for each of their classes. Not a bad salary in 1969, right?

I feel like it's finally hitting me right now. I am officially, finally, actually going to medical school starting this summer. On July 23rd, I'll attend my white coat ceremony and stand among my friends and my future colleagues with our families watching as we receive our white coats. Another one of our friends was accepted in TCOM on Friday, so he's going to be going through this journey with us too. I'm pretty excited and happy for everyone that gets accepted. Maybe that's what has spurred this new found enthusiasm.

It all just comes back to this: I am so proud that I get to walk in my dad's footsteps and become a physician like he is. I love how he has exemplified what I deem to be a wonderful, if not perfect, doctor. He's my role model. I want to be an ophthalmologist just like my dad.

Ok, now I'm tearing up. Time to relax!

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