The Clerkship has already come to an end! How quickly time flies. We had another full and valuable week which started on this past Monday at the Center for Living and Working in downtown Worcester to learn about end of life issues for persons living with a disability. We had a vocal and locally famous disability advocate present who I had actually already received a lecture from last year when we learned about spinal cord injuries. She was in a car accident as young woman that left her paralyzed throughout most of her body but her story is absolutely inspirational to say the least. Her initial recovery and the way she build a new life and works as an advocate for people with a disability is simply amazing. The organization they have in Worcester seems to be very well organized and structured having requirements for a certain percentage of staff being persons with disabilities as well as representation on the board of directors. They provide many services for those with disabilities and facilitate the delivery of those services.

This week has flown by, I've had to reassess, as I somehow often find myself doing, all the thing I planned to accomplish during this 2 week stretch without classes or homework. Finding balance in medical school is an amazing challenge in this landscape that is constantly changing face and pace. Something tells me not much will change post-graduation so really it's about learning to be agile and enjoying the changes and being comfortable dealing with uncertainty. My goals for these two weeks include catching up on pleasure reading, writing, extra curricular commitments, and the biggest one: writing a detailed report about my summer in Malawi that is long overdue. So, it's Friday and one week is coming to an end and I haven't made too much progress on those goals but I have been having a lot of fun!

Well, I realize I haven't written since returning from Africa and now I'm back in good ol' Worcester. I spent the few weeks I had remaining of summer break all over new england which was amazing. It's been a quick couple months back in school, we've already finished neuroanatomy, respiratory, and renal path. I'm already enjoying second year so much more than first as we are learning so much more relevant material as well as my own adjustment to studying. Now we have 2 weeks off from class in order to participate in a a community clerkship of our choice. I chose to do the End of Life Care Clerkship.