Skip to main content

Wait. What?

Hi! My name is Kassel (rhymes with fossil) and usually I'm in medical school. 
But I woke up one morning in the spring of 2018 with an idea, and now I'm taking a leave of absence from medical school between my third and fourth years in order to pursue a Master's of Philosophy (MPhil) in the department of the History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine at University of Cambridge in England. 

 Frequent Follow-up Questions (last updated 10/27/19):

Are you going back to medical school?

Yes, yes, a resounding yes! Not only do I still want to be a doctor, but I have one plan for how to pay off my (ever-increasing) student debt and that is via a doctor's salary (which requires me to graduate from medical school and go to residency, etc.)

Why are you doing this?

Because I love the history of medicine, and I think that learning about the history of my future field will help me understand why medicine is practiced the way it is, and that, combined with a robust introduction to the questions and concepts of the philosophy and ethics of medicine, will help me become a better physician to my patients and allow me to be constructively critical of medicine and the medical system. 

Because, despite liking my medical school and wanting to be a doctor, at times medical school feels a bit like a conveyor belt in a factory that is churning out doctors, and I wanted to step off the conveyor (to prove I could), and to indulge the part of my curiosity that was not being wholly satisfied by the learning in medical school.

And because I wanted an adventure, and the 9-year-old that first read Harry Potter is so, so proud and pleased with me, her 28-year-old future self. 

When will you be back?

My program ends on June 30th, 2020, so I will be back in the USA sometime in summer 2020, at which point I will re-start medical school and my final year of clinical rotations. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WGW: Feb. 5th, 2020

Every week I send out an update to the medical school, which gets send out as part of WGW (What's Good Wednesday), an email where the associate deans of students compiles the professional and academic accomplishments and life events of the student body in an effort to help keep us connected even though we are spread out across lecture halls, campuses, and hospitals across the state. Usually populated by sporadic submissions of significance, after talking with friends before I left, I decided to twist the format to suit my needs to stay connected to my class. After the fifth week of consistent submission, my update was given it's own special place and title: Kassel's Corner.  Greetings from the UK!  Kassel Galaty  (Med21, I suppose) continues to study in the UK. Brexit happened, but we don't talk about that here. Notable talks this week have been about the History of CBT in Ghana, meeting the Canadian astronaut Jenni Sidey-Gibbons, and "Pick your Poison: Insectic...
Post a Comment
Read more

Birds of the National Archives

I spent three days in early November pouring over the archives of the Ministry of Health for my first essay, which was about the failed attempt by the NHS to standardize medical records in 1965. The  National Archives has a pond out front and every morning I enjoyed being greeted by the diverse fowl outside. Hope you do too! Heron (?) Mid-downpour Swans on the move. A million times less graceful out of the water than in it.
Post a Comment
Read more

WGW: November 20th, 2019

Every week I send out an update to the medical school, which gets send out as part of WGW (What's Good Wednesday), an email where the associate deans of students compiles the professional and academic accomplishments and life events of the student body in an effort to help keep us connected even though we are spread out across lecture halls, campuses, and hospitals across the state. Usually populated by sporadic submissions of significance, after talking with friends before I left, I decided to twist the format to suit my needs to stay connected to my class. After the fifth week of consistent submission, my update was given it's own special place and title: Kassel's Corner.  Salutations from across the pond! Kassel Galaty (Med20 wannabe) stubbornly remains in England. Crunch-time is approaching as her first essay is due next Monday (send eloquent, concise, and historically illuminating vibes her way) so this is mostly what she has been doing: She has so many b...
Post a Comment
Read more