Hematopoesis*
Sometimes I think that things happen for a larger reason even if we don't know what those reasons are. Given a couple of recent events (including my professor's husband, plus something else I recently became aware of), this has become more clear to me. Specifically, I am starting to think that, (even if I didn't know it at the time I applied or accepted the offer), there has to be a reason I decided to take this curriculum-design job in the medical school for this year's assistantship.
Because, as it just so happens, I am currently writing a unit on Hematology (of all things, coincidentally). I'm learning more than I ever wanted to know or thought I'd know as a non-medical layperson, about blood and its cellular/molecular components and functions, and blood disorders. There's so much side knowledge that I'm gaining that I've joked with a few people, telling them not to be surprised if I decide on a career change down the road, and go to med school. (Did you know: I actually was pre-med my first two years of college? I aced college Chemistry with flying colors and loved Biology w/ a passion, but my own health issues forced me to re-think the implications of medical school and a medical career on my stamina. But more on that some other time).
I have to say that I AM VERY happy in my assistantship for a variety of reasons. The med school curriculum at UVA is being overhauled and completely re-written (hence my role as a curriculum designer). The shift I am helping to guide is specifically towards an organ-by-organ unit sequence. (We are abandoning the traditional model of medical school, which involves two years of coursework (Year 1: normal anatomy & physiology, Year 2: pathology and disease) followed by two years of clerkship and hands-on rotations with real patients. The rationale is that by covering major body organ systems, one at a time, we an intertwine the theoretical with the hands-on learning sooner. With the old model, there's such a disconnect between the way students learn about everything in such an abstract, theoretical way, and what they see when they begin to see actual patients and do real procedures. The best learning is both theoretically sound and solid and rigorous, but also experiential, because in the end, the hands-on "real-life" learning is what makes new knowledge personally meaningful, and more likely to be retained in the brain.
Yikes--did I just sound like an educator or researcher trying to make the argument (or worse, some type of sales pitch) for experiential learning? My main point is that I really do heartily embrace the idea behind re-writing med school curriculum to keep up with the times. I only hope that this and everything else I've been doing proves marketable when all is said and done, and my dissertation is complete and I go on the job market (which may be in a year). Eek!
OK. Have to get back to work on these monstrous comprehensive exams. I feel panicky.....help.
