The rigor of medical school was no joke. I thought that with the experience I gained from obtaining a first degree in my country, it was going to be a breeze. From playing catch up in the third week of med school because of travel irregularities, staying up several nights preparing for the next day of school and exams, to having to juggle between my academic and extracurricular commitments in the Student Government, the entirety of the experience sharpened my mind and body to learn how to develop the tenacity to adapt and function optimally which will be vital into my future physician rolesrole. During Activity week, I was always glad to sign up for community health fairs organized by my school. I worked alongside other students and Doctorsdoctors, checking vital signs, BMI’sBMIs and counseling the citizens on their health.
My Clinical clerkship year rolled along. From taking histories and performing physical exams, to devising management plans, it was an invaluable experience with significant clinical exposure to various pathologies. During my internal medicineInternal Medicine clerkship, my Attending gave my team the task of arriving at a patientspatient's diagnosis. She was a middle agedmiddle-aged woman who presented with debilitating knee and chest pain and a miragebarrage of other symptoms which, to us, seemed unrelated to us at the time. After obtaining a comprehensive history and physical exam, we came up with about five differentials which we presented to our Attending. I had a strong inclination that it was SLE,; no other diagnosis perfectly fit the puzzle. Subsequent laboratory tests confirmed the SLE diagnosis. I was mind blowing to learn that clinical presentations do not always follow textbook patternpatterns. I wanted to see more cases like this, so I knew Internal Medicine was where I belonged.