Third year of medical school in Cuba

So, I just finished my third year of medical school in Cuba. It was definitely a transitional year in many ways. First, I went from living on a beautiful old naval base, right on the water, in rural Havana, to living in the big city! I miss the peace and quiet and cleanliness of Baracoa. Also, it was cooler, which I had always been told, but really felt when I started living in the city. I didn't think it could get much hotter in Cuba, but sure enough, the city is much warmer than the nice "cool" Baracoa weather I was used to. I actually had to buy a fan this year. I didn't use it much, but when I needed it, I NEEDED IT! Also, getting used to the different mindsets of people in the city has been an adjustment. Small town folk are just different, probably universally, not just in Cuba. Fortunately for me, lots of small town folk move to the big city, and I've made a few friends from the country who remind me of the sweet small town people I met back in Baracoa.

Second, I went from being a mostly classroom student, to having almost all of my learning come from interaction with patients in a hospital setting. I had a full year of adult internal medicine with hospitalized patients, and that was really hard for me. I'm not used to seeing so many sick people, and even though I will be a doctor, it's still not something I'm comfortable with. I cried many times for my patients, never in front of them, but just from the sheer impact of seeing people sick and dying on a regular basis. It's something I knew I would have a problem with, and I'm still not really sure how to deal with it. I guess it'll get better with time. So I'm just taking it one day at a time. I was blessed with an amazing attending physician, female, who was just like on top of things. She was super demanding, but made her students learning her number one priority and adjusted her teaching for each individual student's personality and level, which is hard to do. The group of students I was placed with was also amazing, and I'm glad we were able to get along so well the whole year. I feel like I learned exponentially more in this last year, than any other single year of my life!

My Spanish has greatly improved also over the last year from all the interactions I've had with patients. Going into third year, I was already fluent, but there's always more to learn, and the natural rhythm and flow of my Spanish as well as my vocabulary and grammar continue to grow and evolve, which is great. By the time I graduate, I'm hoping my accent will be nearly undetectable! I really need to read and write more in English though because some things are just really hard to find deep down in my mind. I know it sounds crazy because I've spoken English my whole life, but it's true that if you don't use it, you lose it! Learning languages is awesome, and I'm hoping to learn even more, taking advantage of the very affordable language classes offered in Havana. I've got three more years there, lets see if I can pick up three new languages!