Hello!
How are you? I miss you and I've been thinking of you, and I hope that
you are doing well. I hope you enjoy spending some time with Mom during
her visit.
Life
over here has been very busy. I'm finishing up my third year of medical
school now, which has been the busiest year - a lot of work and a lot
of stress, but I'm hoping it will all pay off. One thing I will say is
that I've learned a lot during this year: about medicine, about human
relationships, and about myself. Being on the wards and dealing with
patients and other doctors day in and day out is a very different
experience from going to school, reading textbooks, and taking tests.
It's been a challenge, waking up every day before sunrise, working for
up to 12 hours a day, and then coming home and still having to study for
a test... But at the same time, I have loved it. I've loved having my
own patients, forming relationships with them, and learning how to think
about health and treatment so that I can help them. I've learned how
important it is to be there and do the little things for your patient,
so that you remind them that you are there to serve them. I've learned
how to show compassion and understanding through just the tone of my
voice, the words that I choose, or a gentle touch. I've learned how to
be a valuable part of a team - the right ways in which to contribute
ideas, bring up suggestions, and challenge management plans that I
disagree with. I've learned how to keep work fun, how to make jokes with
your colleagues so that you can maintain a light-hearted and enjoyable
work environment. In the end, I hope that learning all of these things
will ultimately teach me how to approach my career so that I will
continue to love it many years down the line.
I
have loved almost every rotation that I've done - even the fields that I
would never go into, like OB/Gyn and family medicine, I still loved.
Not surprisingly, I absolutely loved psychiatry - I felt that I could
really connect with those patients and get them to open up to me, which
was wonderful. I've had so many people - patients and colleagues alike -
tell me what a great psychiatrist I would make, because I have a
natural way of comfortably talking to these patients. I thought about
that for a long time, but in the end, I can't seem to give up hospital
medicine. The excitement of having to know everything going on with
every organ system in the body, having to fit together a constellation
of symptoms and determine the cause... it's just too thrilling to give
up. So I guess what I'm saying is that after all of these years, since
deciding that I wanted to do medicine in high school, I still haven't
lost my passion for it.
This
year is going to be over soon - just need to finish up one more
rotation and then we have a big test at the end of this year. Then I'll
be starting to apply to residencies - the next part of my training. I've
grown to love Boston, but I'm really hoping to experience some place
new for the next few years of my life, maybe Colorado or California....
Mom
tells me that your health may be deteriorating now... I can't tell you
how sad this makes me, but I also know that you've been waiting to be at
peace for some time now. I hope you know that you have lived a
wonderful and fulfilling life. Mom tells me stories about you, about how
you loved all of the things that I have loved - medicine, physics,
philosophy, and finally writing.... it makes me so happy to hear this,
because it feels like a special bond that we have. She tells me about
what a famous journalist you were, and that makes me so proud and amazed
by you. You have always been a strong, inspiring figure in my life, and
you will continue to be for the rest of my life. I will always hold
memories of our time together dear to my heart - all the time that you
spent in America, riding on your bicycle, playing Ma Jiang, and the time
that I spent with you in China that summer when we would make delicious
food every day, walk around the streets of Beijing, watch TV together
at the end of the night... I miss you, and I miss Grandma, all the time.
I have had some of the best times of my life with you and Grandma and I
am so grateful for that.
I
know that you might be anxious or afraid. I want to tell you not to be -
I am not anxious or afraid for you, because I know that whatever lies
ahead of you, it will be peaceful. You will find harmony there. We will
all be there someday.
I
love you Grandpa, and I know that everything will be okay. I am always
thinking of you. You are one of the most important people in my life and
always will be.
Sending you warmth and love,
A Bao (阿宝）
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