This week is Solidarity Week, a week hosted by the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) nationwide. This week celebrates the principles of kindness, compassion, clinical excellence and unity in healthcare. To celebrate this week, the University of South Alabama College of Medicine’s chapter of GHHS has performed acts of kindness such as providing gift baskets, and dispersing kindness rocks around the USA Health hospitals, clinics, and College of Medicine, but the hope of this week is to celebrate all of the many people who have shown us the principles that this week emphasizes. This letter is for you all.
Medical school can be an incredibly stressful time, from beginning to end. The thrill of being accepted is countered with the realization that you are being thrust into a lifestyle that will be unlike any you have faced before. It can be draining mentally, emotionally, physically, socially and spiritually. In many cases, this may even worsen as Step 1 approaches, transitioning to the clinical years, and applying to residency programs through the match process. Medical school feels like only the beginning even when it nears its end as the demands of residency and clinical practice loom. On top of this, a worldwide pandemic has happened. Many of us have felt the toll of COVID-19 and have agonized over how it has affected our loved ones, patients, education and entire lives. This can be an incredibly exhausting reality, but we have found it helpful to reflect on the many good things that have happened.
An overwhelming sense of appreciation fills us as we reflect on the many incredible things that have happened in our lives over these past few years. We have many people to thank for this, and we couldn’t possibly list them all, but it’s obvious to us that the USA College of Medicine is special. There have been countless times when people in the College of Medicine have shown us the principles that Solidarity Week celebrates. From the time we were granted admission to now, we have experienced kindness and compassion in the times that we needed it most. We have received excellent advice from mentors and been made to feel important when perhaps we have felt lost. Residents and attendings have prioritized our education, and pre-clinical professors have invested greatly to ensure we understand difficult concepts. The Office of Student Affairs has been on our side and made us feel listened to and appreciated. We feel incredibly grateful to be a part of the USA College of Medicine and USA Health system. So thank you all.
As we celebrate this week, we hope that you all will feel appreciated for all that you do. The USA College of Medicine is made of a collection of some really incredible people, and our lives have been made better because of it. Our hope as we celebrate this week is that we would all be encouraged to be a little bit kinder and more compassionate to all people we come across. Thank you for all that you have done for us and for making the USA College of Medicine so great.
Sincerely,
The Gold Humanism Honor Society University of South Alabama Chapter
