BRITTA: Just the Beginning

It’s funny that I’m writing this from Emory School of Medicine, because growing up, I was sure of only one thing career-wise – there was no way I was going to be a doctor. I have to look back at that now and laugh, since at this point in my life, there’s nothing I can think of that would suit me better. But let me start at the beginning. As a young lass, my dream job was to become a farmer – grow lots of fruits and vegetables (I pictured farming basically as a glorified backyard garden), drive around on cool tractors and combines, and get to play in the dirt all day. I grew up in small-town Kentucky, so there was ample opportunity for me to admire the farming life in all its majesty.

Here I am in the center with my brother Jordan (left) and my sister Kara (right). Yep, that’s one of our miniature donkeys. Cute, huh? Note the stylish coveralls we’re wearing for barn detail.

My dad was (and still is) a family practitioner back home in Elizabethtown, but despite that, I decided early on that doctoring was not for me. Dirt was one thing, but blood was another. Even in later years, after I had discovered some burgeoning interest in the medical field, I had a hard time with this. Let me tell you, there is nothing more embarrassing than passing out while shadowing in the emergency room of your local hospital in a small town. I’m pretty sure that at least half of the nurses on staff that day were parents of my friends from school, and of course, the first thing the ER physician did was call my dad. He in turn called my mom (out of a meeting, no less), and they both drove down to the ER to get me, where I was having my chin stitched up in the emergency psychiatric room, since it was the only one available. I was 20 at the time. Anyway, it just goes to show that even a squeamish person can be a doctor – or at least a medical student.

There were other reasons I was against becoming a doctor. You’ve probably heard a lot of them in general before, and if I went into a lot of detail, it would sound too much like my AMCAS essay, so I won’t talk about them here. Also, I don’t have any funny/humiliating stories connected to those other reasons. Suffice it to say that as my carefree undergrad years at beautiful Notre Dame (go Irish!) progressed, I began to have a change of heart and was solidly convinced that medical school was for me by the beginning of my junior year. After graduation in May 2007, I took a year off to get some experience working as an EMT and to get married to my wonderful fiancé, Adam. He was in Flight School for the Army at the time, so we decided that I would wait a year so that my start of med school would line up with his reassignment to a new post following his graduation. Knowing that wherever the Army decided to send him would play a huge role in my med school choice, I decided up-front that I would not get too attached to any of the schools that I visited. That resolution held pretty well until I came to Emory, when I immediately fell in love with the School of Medicine, the staff, and the students. I was both elated and depressed at the same time, since I figured there was no way the Army would send us to Savannah (the closest post to Atlanta for which we were eligible). However, approximately one month before the May 15th deadline to commit, we learned that we were indeed headed for Georgia, so I started getting ready for life in the bright lights of Atlanta!

We’re almost three months into medical school right now, and I’ve got to tell you, it’s all that I hoped it would. The pace has picked up gradually as we’ve moved through our modules, and I think some of us (me, at least) are starting to feel a little stress as we move through the week. Luckily, we have our weekends free, which leaves lots of time for relaxing with friends and getting to see some of the city.

Here’s me in my brand-spankin’ new white doctor’s coat at our White Coat Ceremony a couple weekends ago. The handsome fellow standing beside me is Adam. He flies Blackhawk helicopters, in case you were wondering what came of Flight School