Man, uh, thank you so much for that introduction. You’re trying to make me cry for a second.
Good morning. I'm John Johnson, a graduating medical student. I want to begin by expressing
gratitude. First, thank you to my class for choosing me to speak today. Being chosen by a
group of such compassionate and thoughtful people is a tremendous honor that is not lost on me.
I'd also like to thank the deans, and administration, for your unwavering
support and persistent attention throughout our time here at Warren Alpert Medical School.
And lastly, a major thank you to the friends, family, mentors,
and all other loved ones who have supported each of us in our journey to becoming physicians.
The road to becoming a doctor is one that requires a community effort.
So, on behalf of the entire class of MD '23, thank you for being our community.
Y'all, I gotta tell you this story.
I recently went back home to mississippi. I was walking into a clothing store with my parents,
and we saw a daughter holding both of her mother's arms trying to keep her from falling.
My mama yelled out, "John, get her!" so, I ran up behind the woman and hooked my arms
under hers. My parents ran over too, and we all eased her to the ground.
The woman said she was feeling lightheaded so I told her, "Ma'am, we need to lie you down flat."
I asked her if she could tell me her name, if she knew where she was, had this ever happened before,
what medications she took." and in the back of my mind, it hit me "Oh my god. I'm a doctor."
The first reason I wanted to share this story is because the often repeated fear
of becoming a new doctor is being in public and someone yelling out, "Is anyone here a doctor?!"
and I've come back over the hill to tell you, I think we're ready.
I don't believe I responded differently from how anyone us graduating today would've.
The idea of not helping this person didn't even cross my mind. And after being around all of
you for nearly four years, I truly don't believe it would've crossed yours either.
When people hear that you are about to graduate and become a doctor,
sentiments of immense pride and elation usually follow. However, if you're anything like me,
the idea of graduating generates at least a mild undercurrent of anxiety. And that
anxiety is what naturally accompanies the new responsibility of having patients under your care.
And that leads me to the second reason I wanted to share this story.
We should not try to carry this responsibility alone. Just a little bit of background - my dad
is a registered respiratory therapist and my mom is a registered nurse.
When we told the lady who we were, she said, "You see how god works?! I guess
I got my testimony for Sunday. I pretty much passed out in a mobile clinic."
and that made me reflect on the dynamics of the situation. If you remember,
my mom is the one who first recognized this lady falling and that's when she yelled out, "John,
get her." When we were easing the lady to the ground and I told her we need to lie her flat,
it was also my mom who called for one of the store employees to grab a pillow for the woman's head.
Someone in the store also brought out a bottle of water and it was my dad who
said "We need to hold off on the water to make sure that she can protect her
airway so that she doesn't aspirate or "Breathe water into her lungs."
I believe this situation is a microcosm for patient care in the hospital.
Everyone in the hospital has a particular role and every role serves its purpose.
While I was trying to figure out what was going on with this person, my mom,
the nurse in the situation, served a vital purpose because she is the one who initially recognized
something was going wrong and she was the one who ensured that this woman was comfortable.
My dad, the respiratory therapist, served a vital purpose, because he recognized that she should not
be given water because of the risk for aspiration, which is very much a catch that could've saved
this woman's life. While each of us served our distinct roles and had our own considerations,
we were all essential in providing the best care possible to help this person. And I know
this is somewhat of a simplistic representation because our roles as physicians can and often
do overlap with those of other careers, but the principle of working together as a team ultimately
in the service of patients is fundamental. The last reason I wanted to tell this story is
because I believe it helps exemplify something I call "Learning loosely." Within academics,
we conventionally define an "Education" within a rigid structure, lectures given with stated
objectives, article reviews and presentations, board exam preparation, so on and so forth.
While acquiring knowledge in this way helps ensure a standard for patient care broadly, there is so
much to be learned outside of that structure. And this is where I find the term "Learning loosely."
"Loosely" defining what an education is -- "Loosely" defining who our educators are.
Helping this person with my parents could have just been a passing instance, but instead I
chose to use it as a point of reflection which revealed my own growth as a student of medicine,
the importance of the roles of others, and the synergistic effect of these roles in patient care.
I believe this intentionality is critical for us as physicians. As
our structured didactic time will be substantially decreased in residency,
we must be flexible and adaptable in the way we learn. We must be intentional about appreciating
the work and effort those around us do and actively seek to learn from them. Of course,
in residency, our co-interns, senior residents and attendings will be invaluable in our education
and I cannot overstate their importance, but we must be open to learning from all. In addition
to other doctors, nurses will be our educators, respiratory therapists will be our educators,
physician assistants, nurse practitioners will be educators, our patients will be our educators.
I see "Learning loosely" as a way of recognizing the value of our everyday interactions
and allowing everyone around you to have a role in your education.
But just as we will be learning from others, others will be learning from us.
And this is one of the constant struggles in medicine -- we teach while we are still learning.
We are role models as we are still modeling ourselves.
The duty of a physician is a tall order, but it is an order that I am assured we all can fulfill.
Over my time here at ams, I've been fortunate enough to be classmates with some of the brightest
minds and most purposeful listeners I've met. Whether I've told you or not, each one of
you -- and I looked through our class groupme -- I do mean every single one of you, have inspired me
in one instance or another to be a better doctor and, more importantly, to be a better person.
And I don't want these to just be passing words so I want to exemplify this by spotlighting
random moments during my time here when I was personally inspired by some of my classmates.
The first people I wanted to mention are Stana Nickolich and Lily Gordon.
We had this conference for internal medicine where we were given this complicated patient
case and all the students had to try to figure out what was going on with the patient and the
students with the most well-thought-out diagnosis were chosen to present in front of everyone.
Stana and Lily were two of the people chosen for this conference and the breakdown that they gave
for the patient's history, physical exam, and labs was truly remarkable.
I remember sitting in that conference and thinking, "They're like uworld explanations -- how
do they know all of this information?" but to this day, that instance inspires me to be thoughtful
and meticulous when I am caring for patients. Another example from our class is lydia.
Lydia is one of the best listeners I've met in my life. Lydia will bring up information
you told her 5 years ago, and relate it to how you've grown as a person. She's one of those
people who doesn't listen just to respond -- she listens because she cares. And I am inspired by
her to listen more, both when I am interacting with patients and also in my everyday life.
This next person, I'm sure, really was not expecting me to say his name because I don't
think we've had two conversations -- but Aron Licht. In one of our second year doctoring
small groups, we were learning how to mediate difficult family interactions and AMS brought
in standardized patients for this session. Aron volunteered to go first and attempt to
mediate. And we had particularly good actors on this day. I mean it was intense-there were
awkward silences and everything. And all I could think was, "I am glad I was not chosen for this."
but Aron mediated this interaction masterfully. He facilitated a space where each family member
was able to give their perspective, every person felt heard, and they were
ultimately able to come to a resolution. I carry this interaction with me, still,
and plan to use to it as a guide when I encounter tense patient-family dynamics in the future.
And finally, I'd also like to mention my fellow tougalooans, Ahsia clayton and Nailah tucker.
I've known you both for nearly eight years so there are far too many examples for me to name
where I have learned from you but watching you constantly overcome adversity and seize
opportunities is an unending well of inspiration for me. I'm fortunate to have taken this journey
with you both, I'm immensely proud and I'm so excited to see what you will accomplish.
If time permitted, I could and would give an example like that for every one of you
graduating with me today. And don't get me wrong, I'm ready to graduate.
I've done my time, but I don't wanna leave y'all. I can honestly say that I'm a better person for
knowing each of you, but the light that you all hold, is a light that needs to be shared.
So, with that being said, I'll end my speech with what my hopes are for all of us once we
enter residency. As physicians, what we do and who we are can be clouded by work-up, diagnosis,
and treatment, but at the most basic level, we are doing all that we can, the best that we can,
to improve the human condition. And that effort is not as clean and neat as it
sounds once in practice. A call to task like that causes one to reach at their extremes.
This duty calls for an incredible duality. I hope in residency, we can continue to strike
that balance -- to be knowledgeable enough to lead but modest enough to be led -- to be confident
enough to speak and thoughtful enough to listen -- to be selfless enough to be there for others
but introspective enough to be there for ourselves -- to be proud enough to maintain our character
but humble enough to grow. In short, as we graduate from medical school and transition
from classmate to colleague, I hope that we become even more so of who we already are. Thank you.