So then we waited, Simmons then Schwartz and naturally almost at the very end Adeyei (darn you Gomey for having a last name at the beginning of the alphabet!). Many of the students had already left before we even opened our sweaty envelopes.
Courtney reacted first. “University of California San Diego ORTHOPAEDICS!! Woo Hoo! Gonna get me an education and a tan!”
Gomey followed, “Massachusetts General Hospital GENERAL SURGERY!! Next stop transplants. Maybe I can find a donor to give Tyler a neatness transplant!”
Tyler went next, “Duke University GENERAL SURGERY!! More to follow but I’m on my way to playing video games for money!”
I swallowed and opened my letter very slowly.
“Johns Hopkins University General Surgery. Guys, I’m going to be a trauma surgeon and fix bodies and save lives by the boatload,” I said proudly with a deep sigh of relief.
We all embraced and laughed and even cried a little. We made plans for graduation and Gomey’s wedding and vowed to stay in touch with one another forever no matter what.
And there it was. I had everything I ever wanted. This was truly the end of the rainbow.
Epilogue
It is five years later. I am awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of a baby crying. In just a few seconds the events of the past six years pass rapidly before me: The rotations, the friendships, Abuela, Dr. Greco, Jillian, Emily, the results of the Match, my residency, my wedding and now my first child.
I gaze with overwhelming love at my wife who surprisingly has not yet been awakened by our daughter’s cries. She must be exhausted--she really needs to rest. I quickly arise and pad over to the crib, which is just a few feet away. I scoop up the little one and bring her downstairs so my wife can sleep. I feed her and change her, but the wails continue. I then smile as I remember learning the hold Dr. Greco taught me years ago. Gently, I flip our daughter over, her face cradled in my hand, her body supported over the inner surface of my forearm like a football, with my other hand gently rubbing her back and…
She keeps right on crying.
From behind me there are footfalls on the steps and there is my wife smiling and shaking her head at the two of us—bawling child and crestfallen husband.
“I’m sorry. I was trying so hard to let you sleep,” I say. Somehow, I feel like I have failed a big exam.
“Don’t worry, we’ll just have to break out the secret weapon.”
A few seconds later, I hear the lilting melody of an eighteenth century violin as Jillian comes strolling back down the stairs.
And the baby falls right to sleep.
Jillian carefully puts down the beautiful and ancient instrument and sits down next to me.
“Don’t you have to be up in a few hours?” she whispers.
“Yep. You know, the usual routine. I start at the newborn nursery at 6:30 then office hours at Greco and Vega Family Medicine.”
She slowly shakes her head and smiles, “Sometimes I can’t believe how it all worked out. Who knew that you would leave a high-profile surgery residency after a year and switch to family medicine after all?”
I nod and say, “I really needed to be a part of this type of medicine and this practice and this town. What I can’t believe is that you decided to come back from Europe and your solo violin career to play with the National Symphony.”
“Remember that it’s my town too. And did you think I was going to leave the hottest family doctor in Maryland to some school teacher? Easy decision,” she laughs and gives me the kind of kiss that suggests that our daughter might not turn out to be an only child. “How much sleep do you need before the alarm clock goes off?” she asks with a gleam in her eye.
Sometimes it’s not getting to the end of the rainbow that counts. Sometimes it’s more important just to really enjoy the colors.
NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Healer’s Choice is a story intended to portray a crucial formative year in the lives of four medical students. All the events described could have happened and are medically accurate to the best of my ability. Carlos, Courtney, Gomey and Tyler are composites of doctors-in-training that I have known as are the more senior Drs. Althea Johnson, Royce Cunningham and, of course, Charles J. Greco. However, none of these characters ever actually existed. Lest anyone think that this story is even remotely autobiographical, I assure the reader with all sincerity that Carlos is a far more gifted student that I ever was and Dr. Greco is the teacher of medicine that all of us wanted to have but I could never hope to be. Similarly, Midcentral State University is made-up as is Metro Health Trauma Center. I did not name the conservatory that Jillian attends-- although the reader familiar with Philadelphia is free to speculate on its true identity.
The details regarding the history of Gagliano violins are as accurate as I could make them—I considered having Norman Weinkopf play a Stradivarius but, as Jillian points out to Carlos, such a violin is worth millions and I concluded that it would not likely be possessed by a violinist playing in an orchestra. Hans Kreisler was a famous Austrian violinist as the book states but there is no competition in Vienna named after him to my knowledge. There is a University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna but the visiting professor from China with whom Jillian was to study is entirely fictional. I did work hard to paint an accurate picture of the kind of path a young violinist might follow and Jillian is the result of that effort.
I wrote this book because, while there are numerous accounts of the clinical experiences of medical students, there are fewer stories about how young doctors feel and interact and develop as people. What is hopefully not fictional is the atmosphere this book attempts to create—for students in training, for doctors in the exam room and physicians at all levels of experience in their communities.
I have many to recognize for their help in writing this book. First, I thank my professors at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center of Penn State University College of Medicine, who taught me to think and practice the way that Dr. Greco does. Also, my gratitude to the faculty of the family medicine residency at Andrews Air Force Base, who encouraged me always to … Do it from the beginning. Use the fundamentals. Don’t take anything for granted.
My thanks also go to Jason, a fine young doctor who reviewed the manuscript, and to Keri, a close friend and veteran educator who looked over the book early on and encouraged me that the story might be remotely interesting and comprehensible to those without formal medical training.
Finally, I would like to thank my wife Laurie, who was patient and kind as I hammered out the story over many months. She took much time hearing every word and vignette and made important suggestions to flesh out the characters. Without her patience and encouragement, these characters and their stories could never have come to life.
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