Studying for Dermatology is rather frustrating . So I've decided to take a break and write about my thoughts after visiting Mr T yesterday evening, one well spent (:

He's someone we met in year 3 of medical school. After that encounter, he had a major surgery and we lost touch for the last 2 years until he contacted one of us again. His disease has since progressed, and management has turned palliative. Spending some time with him and his wife yesterday just reminded me of how we once made time to listen and to be a friend, and also how nice it is to have friends who care. 

Med school has been a time of tremendous growth, in knowledge and in understanding. Knowledge will always be deficient; we get so caught up in learning the thousand and one manifestations of chronic liver disease or the causes of ascites, that we sometimes forget to recognize how privileged we are to be sharing in the lives of people and to learn much more beyond the books. It is a recurring theme that at the end of the day, all these material things that we fight for when we are young - career, wealth, material comforts - become secondary. And the things that matter the most are not things seen or said, but felt with the heart. 

Talking to someone who has months to live puts what is important in perspective. It evokes so many complex emotions that I feel, but cannot fully comprehend.