The new decade begins...

So it does. 2010 has arrived. After answering some version of, "Where are you in your schooling?" for much of the holiday season, I thought it was high time I checked back in on this blog.

For those of us who matriculated into the MSTP in 2006, this *would* have been the year we graduated from medical school, matched, and became interns. Instead, we are all deep in the PhD phase of training.

Time seems to be flying by. Not too long ago, I would tell people that I'll be in school the rest of my life. Now, I'm halfway (maybe more) through the program. Strange how time plays these tricks. The current line I use is that I'm almost done with a second (four year) undergraduate education. As silly as that sounds -- given that I have focused solely on science and medicine -- it makes some sense. The MD/PhD program is rather disjointed for the first several years, with all of the introductory medical curriculum and exams, followed by the start of the PhD training with all of its introductory programs. And now, as I prepare for the Oral Quals (the "pre" dissertation defense), I feel not so differently from the way I felt when I was about to graduate from college. As I said then, now I really need to learn something.

This is not to say I haven't learned a great deal in the past three and a half years. I have. But I think the same desire to develop even greater skills - in clinical reasoning and in my area of research - speaks to the fact that much of the MSTP training is a preamble for serious intellectual engagement down the road. It isn't the culmination of anything. It's just another stepping stone, an educational interlude before more refinement and specialization.

All the other issues with which I have grappled - the challenges facing scientists today, trying to balance clinical and research interests, and attempting to stay informed about where science and medicine are heading as we begin the second decade of the new millennium - remain important and relevant as ever. And I continue to explore and plan to post about them on this blog.

Also: Anthony and I will try to pick up the pace of our posts in the weeks ahead.