a frontWARDS view

Full circle by Dr. David Keegan

It was spring of 1991, the sixth of February, I believe. Something makes me think it was a Wednesday afternoon, but I may be wrong. I showed up at the Office of Student Affairs and Admissions and was greeted by a nice lady, whom I would later know as Mary. I was petrified, yet bursting with excitement. It was the day of my interview for medical school.

In the same office were about 10 others. I remember glancing around at all the dark blue suits, thinking, "Oh my God, are you not supposed to wear a tweed jacket to your medical school interview?" Most others appeared to also be in some combination of fear and joy. A few exuded a snarky smugness that only gained them dark looks from the rest of us.

Before long, two men came in and called my name. After handshakes, off we went into Theatre E. I sat down at the bottom of the room, faced towards my interviewers with the seemingly mammoth theatre stretching way behind them. I succeeded only by Herculean efforts in calming down and actually being able to hear what Dr. Rankin was saying as the interview began....

It was spring of 2001, the tenth of March, I am sure. It was a beautiful Saturday morning. I showed up at the MEDICOR office suite, temporarily occupied by the Office of Admissions, and saw loads of familiar faces. I was not quite petrified, but certainly excited and eager. It was the day of my interviewing others for medical school.

In the same office were about 10 others. I remember glancing around at all the dark blue suits and the equally numerous array of women's attire. I thought, "Well, at any rate, I remembered to wear a dark blue jacket to these interviews." All of the others appeared to also be in some combination of eagerness and, indeed, joy.

Before long, Dr. Bodil Larsen spoke to me, awakening me from my reflection of a decade gone past. Softly eloquent as always, she told me about how she always found it uplifting, to have the opportunity to interview such highly skilled, motivated, eager, pleasant candidates. After that, I was successful (through Herculean efforts) in calming down and actually being able to comprehend the words on the page that Janet McHugh had just handed to me. In moments, Dr. Pradip Joshi and I went off together and called for our first candidate of this most interesting day....