ANTOINETTE: Homage to Team Manning

Some background: the M1 class is broken down into four societies (so Hogwarts-esque) and those four societies are broken down into four small groups. Each small group has 7 to 9 students and the small group leader is an Emory attending/faculty member. We meet two times a week: Tuesdays and Fridays. [Addendum: my small group gets really irritable when a session is replaced with lecture and our time together is whittled down to one session]. You do all the non-lecture feel-good learning with your small group: PBLs (Problem-Based Learning), physical exam skills, patient interviews, patient-doctor relationship, etc.

Now back to the love-fest. Some may call us a small group. But we’re more than that. We’re family.

We are eight different folks from very different strokes:

Alanna “I used to manage the world’s largest tick colony” McKelvey
Tony “Shaboy from Brooklyn but really, I went to a ritzy prep school” C-Q
Doug “Wiki-Man” Wetmore
Jin “Our silent secret weapon” Lee
Hreem “I’ve only got my Boo (and Chicago) on the mind” Dave
Adam “Sparky, bearer of Esoteric Truf” Carlisle
Antoinette “I feel very weird writing a descriptor for myself” Nguyen
Dr. Kimberly “mother of Thing 1 and Thing 2” Manning

With a small group advisor who looks like this:

And a small group who looks like this:

Can you really blame me for loving these people? But it wasn’t love at first sight. That’s the beauty of it. I never imagined that we’d become so tight-knit, but tight-knit we are. Even though we come from different backgrounds with different families and different experiences, our small group just “clicks.” We have our rituals: the inside jokes, the 10 minute de-briefing pre-session, the hate list…But most importantly, it’s a safe space where there’s open communication and honesty. I feel comfortable discussing clinical questions but also bringing up personal issues, about medical school, family, match.com and anything and everything under the sun. And I know the feeling’s mutual. While Team Manning is not attached at the hip 24/7 off-campus, we look out for each other. And that’s a comfort amidst the hustle and bustle that is medical school.

I’m not hating on any other small group. Every group has their own vibe. Ours just happens to be slightly over-the-top and probably annoying. I’m okay with that.

I won’t post again until after summer break. So to all the incoming Class of 2012 folks, WELCOME! Enjoy the rest of your summer. Do whatever it is that makes you happy. But whatever you do, don’t study. See you soon!

over and out scout,

Antoinette