Forced Lecture= Bad, Forced Socialization = Good

It's officially the middle of week 3, not that any (and all) of us are counting. Today we had class in the morning and I was looking forward to coming home to prepare for the next couple of days and relax in the afternoon. But then Michelle informed me that she had gotten an email and was supposed to spread the word that this new student interprofessional lecture thing was required for all of us to go to in the afternoon.

And so I started my internal complaining that lasted for the next several hours.

I had some good points, I thought:

1. You can't tell us we have to go to a lecture on the day of the lecture. Not all of us check our email obsessively. I do, but you don't know that.

2. I have two essentially 14+ hour days (if you count commuting, which I do) ahead of me, so I desperately need any amount of downtime on Wednesday afternoons that I can get. I need to read my textbook and learn about my patient's diagnosis, treatment, and meds. I need to set out my clothes and belongings for the next couple of days. I need to eat an early dinner, take a hot bath, and put on my jammies so that I can trick myself into falling asleep ridiculously early. I need to get into my very specific wednesday afternoon routine because there is a very real danger that anything that disrupts it will render me incapable of getting the amount of rest required for the next two days!!!

3. I don't want to go.

But, being the rule abiding student I am, I went. And actually, I'm glad I did. Not because the content was particularly enlightening (note to scientists/medical professionals: when planning an event that requires creativity such as the skits that were performed today, it's okay to ask for help!! People have different talents. There is a reason why some people are writing the movies, some people are watching the movies, and some people are operating on the moviegoer who aspirated their popcorn), but because it gave me an opportunity to interact with my classmates outside of class. It was good, remembering how nice everybody is and how much I do enjoy their company. And it was probably good for me to be forced to do this because it is highly likely I would have otherwise gone home and sat on my couch. I think it would be pretty easy to let school and exhaustion take over my life and I'll admit I've let it happen to a certain extent.

So the lessons from today:

1. Interdisciplinary collaboration in healthcare is good.

2. I might talk big about skipping a lecture but once I know it's mandatory it's pretty much guaranteed that I'll show up.

3. I need to take advantage of opportunities for social interactions so as not to find myself home on Saturday nights with Bowie (no offense, Bowie)