Exactly nine weeks ago I said good-bye to my incredible friends and family and colleagues I used to work with, jumped on a plane and arrived in Cape Town that evening and went to the first day of orientation the next morning. It was an emotional roller coaster to say the least. Since then I have met hundreds of new people, explored parts of Cape Town I didn’t even know existed, lived on my own for the first time, learnt more about the human body than I have in my entire life, laughed until I cried, cried until I laughed, and watched all six seasons of Gossil Girl on Netflix.
Today would have been the first day of my second term at medical school. However, after the President’s first address almost two weeks ago, and his second one a week later, a LOT has changed. With the proposed measures in place to combat the global Coronavirus COVID 19 pandemic, South Africans have begun a 21-day nationwide lockdown period, which started at midnight on Thursday 26th March 2020. On that note, I would like to send my positive thoughts and good energy out to all those affected by this pandemic, which is literally everyone, and I hope you all are staying strong (and at home) and practicing physical distancing (I intentionally didn’t say social distancing) during this challenging time. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and I am certain we will come out of this international awakening much stronger, wiser and more resilient than before.
Our one-week mid-semester break has become more than a month long, with no definitve date set for when we will return to campus. While many students rejoiced after hearing the news of our chemistry test being postponed and our first semester formal exams being cancelled, I was most excited about getting some time to reflect and write about my second, first year experience and med school journey thus far.
Of all the uncertainties that lie ahead, the one thing I am sure about is that this is exactly where I am meant to be and what I am meant to be doing.
Time Flies When You’re Having Fun
This has been the longest period I have gone without posting anything on Satvic Lifestyle since the page was launched online. To be completely honest, I thought there would have been much more time to write and update this space when I went back to university, compared to when I was working as an engineer, but it was actually quite the opposite. During the past few weeks, my entire mind, body and spirit has been completely engaged in my daily activities and learnings (and trying to develop a sustainable routine), not just because of the new Mother City I have to explore or the sheer volume of new work I have had to grasp and take in, but also because of how exciting and fascinating the lifestyle is.
The last time I remember feeling this way is about a year ago when I was studying Yoga at the World Peace Yoga School in Rishikesh, which also happens to be when my interest in learning about the mind and body was sparked, and now that I’ve been exposed to the greater details, I just can’t get enough of it. I have found that some people are extremely productive when they are this involved in something they are passionate about, like I am now. However, I have also seen how others are actually negatively affected by it and find the phase more destructive than anything.
I invite you to think about the last time you were this excited and engaged in something. Try to recall and imagine your thoughts, feelings and behaviours while you were in the moment or phase. Let me know what you find, and if it was a good and productive period of time, or if you felt it was actually unhealthy and too consuming for you.
There is so much I can say about my journey thus far because, even though it has only been a couple months, I have learnt and encountered such a wealth of new knowledge and experiences in this short space of time. I have met hundreds of new people from around the country as well as other parts of the world, and been fortunate enough to engage with and get to know many of them on a personal level. I forgot how much I enjoy meeting people and hearing their incredible stories and life experiences as well as sharing my own with them. I admit I have gotten a few crazy looks after hearing about my roundabout journey to get here, however, the reaction from the majority of people has been well-received, warm, inspired and promising, which is always refreshing.
Join The Club
I don’t ever remember feeling this excited about being at university the first time. I am not sure if it’s because I think that the UCT lifestyle and experience is better than the one I had at UKZN, or if I am enjoying the health sciences work more than engineering, or if I am just loving the lifestyle change and abundance of new experiences like living on my own in a new city (or all of the above?!).
Also, when I studied enineering at UKZN, I never really got involved in any clubs or societies while I was there (other than an interest in table tennis I revived in third year, which was rather short-lived). This may have been because of my lack of enthusiasm at the time, or lack of awareness (or ignorance maybe) about the opportunities available. However during the orientation period at UCT (O-week as everyone calls it), there were dedicated days when all the clubs and societies set up stands to welcome and show the ‘freshers’ what their options were. Having missed out on this opportunity the first time round, I wasted no time signing up for as many as I could, which include the UCT Mountain and Skiing Club and the Pre-clinical Society. Besides having something other than university work to get involved in, it has been a great way to meet even more people and get to know more about the field.
Information Overload
It is no exaggeration to say that my learning curve has been exponential. I personally went from not knowing my gallbladder from my gonads, or that everything in our body, from our skin to our bones to our organs and muscles, are made up of four main types of tissue, to being able to recognise and identify what tissue I am looking at under a microscope and knowing how each tissue type is structurally suited to perform its specific function. This isn’t even a fraction of the stuff I’ve learnt and I can’t stop talking about, but I am going to restrain myself from geeking out further before I lose you.
To avoid overworking your cerebrum and overwhelming (and boring) you with information that is not applicable or relatable (like what exactly the cerebrum is), I’d rather share something that I believe will be most beneficial for you to hear about and, hopefully, able you to add some new perspective in your lives.
The Human Body – A Work of Art
The greatest realisation I have had since I started this medical degree is that the human body is an incredibly advanced, artistic, engineering work of art – a miracle if I do say so myself.
As an engineer, I have always been interested in how things work, but strangely enough, I never really cared about or thought to find out and learn about how human beings worked. The human body, for me, was like how a motor vehicle is for some others: I was never really interested in learning how it worked, I just needed to know that it does, and if it wasn’t working properly, I would just call upon the expert (that is, Dr Dad) who would know how to fix it. I didn’t realise or acknowledge this concept before, but the control and appreciation you get from understanding how ‘stuff’ works is so empowering, and by having this insight to something as important and relevant as the human body, which we use every single day, allows us to understand why we feel and do certain things (talk about hormones and maintaining homeostasis!) and how our lifestyle choices, thoughts and actions affect our mind and body.
We all know that a car breaks down or doesn’t run efficiently if it is not regularly serviced, or contaminated with the wrong fuel or oil. Similarly, if we develop a somewhat basic understanding of the human body, we can understand what should and should not be done with regards to our body. So, what exactly am I saying here? That our body is like a vehicle? That everyone should get a medical degree? No, of course not.
There is no machine that could ever compare to the complexity and level of advancement that is found in the human body, and there is no need for you to know how to cure every illness (or how fix your engine problems for that matter). But I do believe there is merit in having a basic understanding about the “do’s and don’ts” in the essential areas of life, so you know the drawbacks of smoking or eating burgers and fries every day, or continuously driving your car without adhering to its regular service intervals.
The purpose of me sharing this realisation and new-found excitement with you is so that you can appreciate this incredible engineering miracle that is your human body. From conception and birth, to childhood and youth, to adulthood and old age, our body is constantly evolving (growing, maintaining and repairing itself) in ways I never imagined.
Obviously, I am not a doctor yet, but I have started to gain an understanding about how sensitive and dynamic we are. For you to simply be breathing and seeing and processing these words, there are billions of individual living cells inside your body that are working together and communicating with each other via chemical reactions and electrical signals. Thankfully, most of these processes are autonomous, which means that you don’t even need to think about them – just imagine if you had to remember to breath every second or to keep your heart beating continuously!
With these highly sophisticated processes going on inside our body to keep us alive and well, we find ourselves concerned with thoughts and problems that are absolutely trivial in comparison, such as what to cook for lunch, or what to wear for our date, or how to make sure we get the latest iPhone before our social rival.
My intention in saying this to put things into perspective, and to afford you a new appreciation and gratitude for your body and life. We are often told to “look at the bigger picture” and “don’t worry about the little things”. In some contexts that may be true, but I believe that when it comes to thinking about all the living entities that have to interact and work together to make you You, before looking at the bigger picture, you should give thanks to the microscopic entities that are allowing you to be. Life as we know it is a great miracle that we should never take for granted and this is especially important to remember during challenging times, such as the period in which we currently find ourselves in.
Becoming a Doctor
Since I began studying medicine, my respect for doctors and other health professionals has grown tremendously. Even though you may think that they only need to know everything there is to know about the human body and mind, it is so much more than that. From the first day of lectures, the responsibility that is taken on by choosing to be here was emphasised to every student in the Faculty of Health Sciences at UCT. This was a somewhat ‘heavy’ topic for the first week of campus, and while it may have made some students nervous about their choice, it was intended to make sure we know what is expected from us.
The lecturers, most of whom are PhD candidates, professors, doctors or qualified professionals in other fields of health services, are nothing short of amazing at what they do. The knowledge they have on their area of specialisation is phenomenal and their passion for teaching and continuous learning is truly inspiring.
To prepare us for the career we have so carefully choosen, and to groom us into the best health professionals we can be, we are not just provided with the biological or physiological facts that we obviously need to know, but we are also delving into the psychological and social aspects and theories that are just as critical to know about. During the first term alone we have covered learning about the importance of attitude, empathy, reflection, confidentiality, trust, being non-judgemental and maintaining an appropriate social image, as well as nutrition, HIV/AIDS, verbal and non-verbal communication, how to conduct consultations and interviews, theories about parenting styles and gender identification, theories and impacts of people’s socio-ecnomic status, social media and its positive and negative effect on people, and so many more aspects that you may not think are necessary to learn about or related to becoming a health professional.
Having a few more years of ‘real’ life experience than the average student, I fortunately (or unfortunately) learnt about some of these topics the hard old fashioned way: by experience. However, it is great to see it being taught in a formal, structured way that I can relate to, and I can see how these skills are already benefitting me and other students in our everyday lives.
I remember how stressful the transition from secondary to tertiary education was when I had to do it and I witnessed how many students failed to do it effectively. However, I am personally very impressed with the level of maturity displayed by the majority of the health sciences students (specifically the newly matriculated and first-time university goers) and I can vouch for the Class of 2025 becoming successful medical doctors.
Once again, be well and stay safe. And when the Coronavirus has passed, let us remember to practice the important lessons that this time has taught us. Until then, let’s keep socialising from a distance!
Bye for now!