We have entered a busy time of year for all students at UA COM-P. I remember last year as an MS1, I was just starting to feel comfortable after the MBLD block when anatomy started. Learning to figure out how to juggle two blocks at once was tough. Now as an MS2, Step 1 fever is spreading through my class faster than norovirus on a cruise ship. I’m constantly checking schedules and trying to meet study goals. I won’t pretend to understand how hectic life will be as an MS3 or 4. Regardless of what year you are in, chances are you wonder “Where did my time go?” at least several times a week.
In the midst of the time crunches we deal with, the last thing most of us want is to add more to our schedule. So I’m probably about to become unpopular around here because I’d like to issue a challenge to each student at our school. I urge us all to review our schedules and carve out a slot to do some volunteer service!
The need to serve surely strikes a chord inside each of us. However, volunteer opportunites to help others often get pushed aside for more pressing matters. Many of us try to prioritize our time to fit in narrow parameters: Will this help me accomplish my goals? Will it help me score well on a test or make my CV more impressive? These are both admirable and important goals. Community service may not seem to merit high prioritization according to the calculus of a medical student. Indeed, getting 3 more CHIP hours is unlikely to affect a residency application or boost your score on Dr. Fisher’s upper limb anatomy exam.
Volunteer work is often unglamourous. Rarely do opportunities come at the most convenient times. Nevertheless, choosing to serve others (whether as part of a CHIP program or not) is worth every minute of time we dedicate to it.
Giving service has intrinsic and independent value because it always results in direct aid to another person. Providing service gives you the chance to forget about your own struggles and lose yourself in pursuit of aiding others. It’s the essence of what attracted most of us the medical profession. Serving others gives us a chance to practice beneficence, an ethical pillar for all of us as physicians. (For those of you who are religious, please consult your medical student bible First Aid 2016 page 39 for more information on that topic.)
Jokes aside, I hope you choose to make a habit of volunteering. It will build a strong moral character within you. It will uplift you, improve your mood and attitude, and nurture compassion in your soul. And you will notice an increased capacity to fulfill your other responsibilities of studying and preparing for important deadlines ahead.
So despite the business of your life, I invite you to take a look at your crowded schedule and plan a time to give service. Your life and the lives of those you serve will be better for having done so.
Tyson Amundsen is the only member of the class of 2019 who hails from Utah and is extremely proud of it. He spent two years living in Los Angeles, California, serving as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints before graduating from the University of Utah with a degree in Latin American studies. His passions include skiing and soccer, but he'll settle for just about any outdoor activity. His professional interests include bioethics and religious liberties in medicine.