Bridging Generations in Medicine

20 pictures of me, like, just like smiling with the people after I was, like, giving them their award. Just like, who is this girl? Like, why? Why was I there? Why was I there? Why me? I couldn't even show up on time. Okay, well, hi, everybody, and welcome to the podcast. This is Generations md. My name is Stephanie and I'm joined.

Here by my colleague, Dr. Sarah Davis.

Who is also my mother. And today we have a very special guest.

Who's that?

It's the cat. Bruce.

Bruce doesn't seem to have a lot to say today. Yeah. So what's going on? What's happening?

Lots is happening. I just did spring break.

Spring break. I can't believe you.

20, 25.

I can't believe as a med student you get a spring break.

Oh, yeah. I'm saying never stop having spring break every year for the rest of my life. I want to have a spring break.

Okay, we'll see how that goes.

No, yeah, we. Yeah, we got a break to rest and recoup. Got a nice. No, we had 17. I talked about this on Tik Tok a little bit, but yeah, we had 17. Med students all went to Mexico. Of my friend group. We. Because we weren't. We didn't just go and stay at a resort. We like went. Stayed at an Airbnb. We had buses taking us to dinners every night. We had buses taking us to the beach. Like, we. There was. So we had activities. There was just like so much coordination that had to happen. And I am like, if you are a incoming med student and you're worried about, like, you know, making friends or whatever, first of all, you're gonna make some of the best friends ever. Like, I'm like, so, so happy with my friend group. And also for me, I was always the planner in college of everything. I was the person that had to plan, like all the spring breaks. I was the person begging for people to Venmo me. But this trip, first of all, really made happen because one of my friends, Kang, like, really didn't. Did so much organizing it. But also we delegated a lot of the days and a lot of the tasks so that like, and we knew we were going to get it done. It was like I, I said this on TikTok, but we had a, like a color coded spreadsheet itinerary with delegated tasks on it. We had like multiple Excel sheets about budgets, about you, you know, where, about Airbnbs, about all of this stuff to starting way back first semester. We knew we had a spring break and we knew we Want to do something. And I made a PowerPoint of all the potential places that we could go to. And we had a meeting that everybody came to.

Everybody showed up, had questions, raising their hands.

Everybody showed up after the meeting. Then we had a follow up meeting that we scheduled at that meeting to like really pin down where we were going. Then like everyone had flights booked and everything like months ago. So that was like, you know, didn't have to. People were either in or out. They committed, they didn't. We weren't like begging people to come. We weren't like trying to figure that out. People got flights committed. Then by the time we got closer, we had another meeting to discuss plans and discuss what we wanted to do. And like, it was just real. I just haven't ever had anything like that.

Yeah, that's nice. And you know, if, if your med school friends are like my med school friends, it's like, it's the best because people are able to do planning and all of that, but they also are perfectly fine to let somebody else do it and trust that they're going to do it correctly. Like, you know how to collaborate and coordinate. There's some people that like, yeah, they'll plan it all, but if you don't have their agenda, then you're, you know, then you're just going to be out of luck. So.

Well, I guess that I feel like would be me be like, be in other situations because like, I know that I would plan it better than other people. You know what I'm saying?

Well, yes, but it's the difference of like, okay, just doing what you want to do rather than like doing what the group wants to do.

Yes. And that is like, that's the hardest part about being a leader and making those decisions is you're trying to please everybody. Yeah.

And you don't always get input from people. It's, you know, there's people who don't tell you anything and then they complain that they didn't like how it was done. It's like, well, you, you didn't tell me what you wanted. So anyway, I just think that's like, that's, that's just so nice, so fun to have people who can plan stuff.

Well. Yeah, I think I really did take on that role because, yeah, I guess it was more so not because I wanted to do what I wanted to do, but because I know that if I let, I didn't trust anybody else to A, actually do it or B, do it in a way that was gonna be researched and was gonna Actually, like, work out and was gonna be the most financially appropriate and actually put in the work to do it in the best way possible. And now in this group, I can kind of take a step back and be like, okay, no, like, I'm. No, I'm still gonna help out, do what I need to do, do my tasks, but I can trust that everything else is going to get done.

Yeah, that's nice.

I even noticed that even with, like, group projects in medical school, I remember saying this kind of at the beginning of the podcast. I think I already said this, but just working in, there's not, like, so much group work, but like an anatomy lab. Like, we just. There's. You always trust that everyone else is going to do it. It's never. It's never a question.

Not like the middle school group projects where you just. It's. Everybody's pulling their own weight. It's nice 100%.

So, yeah, it was the best trip of my life. I mean, so this kind of brings me to, like, kind of more what I want to talk about today, which is I am part of the alumni committee, so I'm involved with the alumni weekend now, and it was just really making me emotional talking to all these alumni and them, like, reconnecting. And I was like, I want to still be friends with all the 17 people that I went to Mexico with. Like, I feel like it's crazy that I've just known these people for a couple of months. I feel like I've known them for years. And. But. And seeing the alumni still be connected was made me feel good.

Yeah, that's great. That's. That. That's actually good for me. We're coming up on our 30th med school reunion this fall, and one of my friends texted me and told me that I was in charge of planning stuff. It's like, we talked about it. We voted you to do it. I haven't really done anything yet. I better get on that.

Talking to people is. People do have very different experiences. Like, you know, some alumni talked about how they had kids in med school and they didn't know anybody and, yeah, they didn't keep in touch with anybody. Um, and even, like, I'm was just. I was talking about this with people comparing you versus dad. Like, you are still close with all your med school girlfriends. You guys go on a trip every year. You guys have stayed really connected. Dad is so close with all of his college friends and not so much all of his med school people. He doesn't really still have know all those people except Uncle P. Yeah.

That's because men are only capable of making friends up until about the age of like, 18, 19. Then they don't make any new friends for the rest of their life.

Well, I mean, my med school group, like, they're a really solid group of guys. That's true, but I guess it is. And it's convenience, too. We moved back to Dallas, and that's where he went to college, and that's, you know, where his friends were and stuff, so. But no, that. That's true there. So, I mean, kind of didn't really know exactly what I was signing up for in regards to, like, this alumni weekend. But essentially, me and my friend Alex are in chart. Like, are the alumni committee people. And so they're like, okay, you have to come to this dinner and this breakfast and, like, a couple of other little things. And we were like, okay. We were in spring break in Mexico. Again, not really. We come back and then we're like, okay, yeah, we go. We got to go to this alumni thing. We knew, like, what to wear and where to be, but we didn't really know much about it. We end up showing up to these dinners with, like, these really important people. And it was just. It was really cool actually talking to all these people. And people liked talking to us. Like, they were. We were telling them about Mexico. They were really just, like, chatting us up because I. They. I feel like a lot of them felt like they had to be professional with some of the other people around. And then they're like, oh, yes, and med students. And they would, like, talk about, like, their experience in medical school. School and all of that. So it ended up being really a lot better than I anticipated it to be.

That's so fun. I mean, so these people were fun to talk to. They. You. You kind of have this impression of, like, oh, you know, these are old doctors are going to be all stuffy.

So the first thing went to was just a cocktail hour. And that was like, everyone. All the alumni were invited to it. I met an incoming student who is a listener, so shout out her. Yes. And so I was talking to people. And then the fourth year, he was also part of, like, the alumni. He's the fourth year person. Like, Alex and I are the first year alumni people representatives or whatever. Then he was like, oh, okay, we're gonna go downstairs to the dinner. And we're like, okay, like, what's the. And we're like, oh, is everyone going? He was like, oh, no, only, like, important. Like, this is The Distinguished Alumni dinner. So then we're like, oh, okay, sure. So we go down there and then they put Alex and I at the. It was the young Distinguished Alumni table. So these were like, they were early in their career and they were getting recognized for, like, having achievements early in their career. But it. It was. It did kind of bring in generations and stuff because they were giving awards for older, you know, people who have retired and then some people that are still practicing, but older. And then these young people who just started in medicine. And then there was Alex and I there somehow in both of the speeches. Again, we're the only students there besides the fourth year who was on the other side of the room. We're the only students there. We got shout outs in the speeches.

You'd known them for like 30 minutes.

For 30 minutes. Our table was popping. And yes, they said they were like, yeah. And just here for the, for the students in the room, like Alex and Stephanie, like, we're like, so, yeah. Got both their contact information, so I'm going to ask them to be on the podcast.

That's great.

And then some of the other speeches earlier, this one woman, she had a great speech where she was just talking about. She was like, she's like, I can tell you about my story and my journey, but I kind of want to talk about the advancements of medicine that I've seen throughout my career. And she was just talking about how when she started, there wasn't a pulse ox taker. And she was like, now you can Amazon prime one and get it the next day. She's just like talking about these different sort of things. And I was like, wow, that's crazy.

Yeah. Yeah.

But then today, again. So these things that we've been going to have just been like dinners, sort of like cocktail hours, breakfast, like, stuff that I'm kind of just pop into. We're just there to. To welcome, to socialize, be the face of McGovern per se. But this one, I figured it was very similar. So I. So Alex and I went to this breakfast and then I had to go and drop him back off because he was leaving. And then I had to go back to. To go to this 11:30 brunch.

Okay.

All of a sudden I realized that I, like, I'm driving back and I realized that I had an issue with my dress. I need to run back home and change. But I was like, already running short on time. So I ran home, I changed my dress, but I also have this. This mark on my leg from a. From a Jellyfish sting from Mexico. So I have this big mark on my thigh that looks like a rash. And I also have bug bites all over my legs. And, like, I literally look like I got into a car wreck or, like, weird rash or something. So I've been wearing long dresses to try to avoid that. But anyway, I ran home, and I didn't really have another long dress that I could wear, so I just wear. Wore a short dress. And I was like, it's fine. I'm just gonna run in late, and it's not a big deal, and whatever. I have this weird rash on my leg, but I can make it topic conversation because I'm just gonna be walking around mingling with people, right? So I'm like, 10 minutes late. I come in, and one of the alumni people that is, like, in charge of me, she was like, oh, like, they're starting. Like, you can, like, run in there and see, you know, if they'll, like, let you in. And I was like, oh, like, okay. So I, like, go in, and they look at me like, oh, you're the student. Like, we're. They were waiting on me, and I was like. And I was like, oh, my God. And again, I don't really know what's happening. Like, I figured it was just a brunch. No, this was, like, the 50th reunion anniversary medallion award ceremony that I was giving the medallion awards. Oh, my God. Like, I was giving it to them. They were really nice and stuff. Again, I'm like. I'm, like, seven minutes behind. It was supposed to start at 11:30, and, like, there's still people are mingling. It's a brunch, you know, it doesn't start right on time. So, like, it wasn't. They're like, oh, you're the student. Like, okay, yeah, come we're. You're gonna be putting the medallion on them. On the people who have graduated from McGovern in 1975 and didn't get much information of what to do, where to stand, whatever they get up there. And they were like, okay, yeah. And the student, Stephanie, is going to be presenting your award. And I was like, oh, my God. Okay. So I then have to stand up in front of everybody. Granted, too, this is the first time I wore a short dress. And I have this giant jellyfish sting on my thigh as I'm standing in front of my dress is also a little bit too short. Okay. Again, didn't think it was a big deal at the time, but it was a little bit too short. And I'M standing all. In front of all of these doctors who graduated Medical School in 1975. And I am standing up there again. I don't really know what to do. And I'm trying to, like, be out of the way. We didn't practice what to do. I didn't practice putting these, like, medallions on them. I'm scared I'm going to, like. Like, hit them in the face or something. But I. So whatever. Get up there. I'm a little flabbergasted. I'm a little choked up. I kind of, like, I'm embarrassed that I showed up late, and I'm embarrassed that I'm standing up there with, like, my leg is looking weird. So I'm like, I'm getting choked up. I feel like I want to cry and all of. And then they start telling these, like, really sweet stories. Like, this one woman, she was, like, the first black woman who, like, went to school there. And she was saying, like, I know I looked different, but none of you guys made me feel different. And, like, all this stuff. And I start crying. I'm up there and I'm like, there's tears running down my face. And I'm just like, oh, my God. Like, this is. This day has already just been way too much. But I went up there and I did it. Oh, also, not only. So it was like, the one this other guy was like, would say their name. They would come up. I put the metal around their neck, and then I was smiling in a picture with all of them. Like, now there's. I'm up there and. Yeah, so it's like, me, the, like, president of the alumni network, and then this, like, this renowned doctor. And there's like, there's, like, 20 pictures of me, like, just, like, smiling with the people after I was, like, giving them their award. Just like, who is this girl? Like, why. Why was I there? Why was I there? Why me? I couldn't even show up on time. Like, why was it. Why was it me?

Well, yeah, it just seemed weird that they wanted, like, a student to be doing that. I feel like it could have been, like, many other faculty members.

All I heard was, be at this brunch at 11:30. I, like, had no idea.

Well, now you know what the medallion thing is. Well, that.

Now I know. And I'm making the first year do that next year because I am not doing that again.

Well, and, you know, as part of the prank, just don't tell them.

Yeah, yeah, that. Oh, my God. But then I had to. Then I had to come home. And then I had to go to campus because then I had to give a tour. I'm not a tour guide at all. Like, literally at all.

You don't really know your way around.

I know my way around, but like, Like, I'm not. I'm not a tour guide. I don't know. So then I show up and I am there and like. But there are some other tour guides there. So I was like, they're like, oh, are you gonna give a tour? And I was like, no, no. Like, I'm all just like, I'll just mingle. That's. That's what I'm best at as just mingling.

And that's your forte.

Yeah. I asked. I was like. Because I got there and I was like, how do I help? And they're like, oh, you can like hand these things out or you can just kind of mingle. And I was like, oh, I'll just mingle. So I just start walking around, talking to people, whatever. That. That's really my. That's really where I shine.

So.

Yeah. So then I end up. So I. I was like, okay, I'm gonna go with you. One of the tour guides, like, ambassadors. And then ends up all of the 20 people from the 50th anniversary that I had crowned with their medal all come to my tour guide, to her group, and they're like, wow, a woman of many trades. Now you're here. And I was like, yep, here I am. And I. And now me and all of Those class of 1975 best friends they are. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We got Larry, we got David, we got Bet Betsy. We. They are just. We. We were just hanging out all day.

Awesome. Wait, I also need to know, what did this medallion thing look like that you put on that?

It was a. It was a silver medal that said like 50th.

Okay.

I was really scared I was going to whack them in the face.

Yeah, that would not have gone over well. Probably half of them are on blood thinners.

And yeah, I. It was, it was like, I've never, like, put a medal on somebody. Like, I didn't know the proper way to do that. And then I was. First I started just going for it, and then I was like, do I do handshake and then go for it? So then I started hitting a handshake. So I was like, handshake, then do metal was just ad libbing all of it. Didn't. Didn't really know.

But you pulled it off. I pulled it off.

Some tears Were shed, but I made it happen. It's just been. It's been. It's been a roller coaster.

Boy, 50 years. So, yeah, that's. So they're like mid to late 70s.

They were like, walking around the hospital and everything fine. But yeah, they were really kept being like, oh, my God. It was like, they were great. But it was. You know, you're walking around with a bunch of grandparents getting very distracted with everything and being like. What was really cool was, you know, like, Red Duke, so he has like, a bunch of statues and stuff. Like, he was this really renowned doctor. And all of them had a story about it. Like, all of them had a story about doing a rotation with him. Like, they all. It was cool because we hear all of this and they all did rotations with him. Wow. Yeah.

So that's cool.

Yeah. But they all had lots of stories about when they were there, and not a lot of them. Not appropriate to repeat on the podcast. They all had. They all just stand up and say a memory of their favorite memories. And they. Class of 1975 went wild.

Was the 70s. There was a lot going on.

Oh, they all this. I feel like I. They. They said that they would all, like. They all smoked cigarettes in class. Isn't that crazy? And one guy didn't. And that was when one guy didn't and they thought he was crazy for not. Oh, like, was that one.

Did.

Was that a thing in the 70s?

You know, I was a kid in the 70s, so I don't know, you know, certainly. I mean, even when I was in high school, there was a smoking section at the high school where you could go and smoke, but you did not smoke in class.

And so did you know it was bad or no?

Yes. And even in the 70s, they knew it was bad. I mean, maybe not as bad, but. Yeah, no, no, smoking was hazardous to your health even then. But that's. But smoking in class now, I did when I was an exchange student in Spain. Everybody in Spain smoked. And the professors would smoke during class. Like, while they were lecturing, they would just like, kind of sit on the desk and start smoking. And it didn't even really seem weird to me. So that tells you, like, I don't know just how much, you know, how prevalent smoking was, but that was in Spain. I mean, my. My teachers at SAC High weren't smoking while they were talking. That's. That's fun, though. But what a. What a fun experience. Now tell me, okay, so you guys are the first year now. Are there also alumni representatives for the second year and the third year, and then we had the 1 4th year.

Yeah. What was funny is we were talking about at the Distinguished Alumni Dinner, then they were like, oh, like, you know, people kept asking, like, why are we here? Because we were just students and random and we were just like. It was like, oh, we're like the alumni representatives. We always keep saying the alumni people, but it were the alumni representatives for our class, and they're like, oh, how did you guys get this position? Like, were you elected? And we're like, yeah, we were elected, but no one else was running against us, so we kind of just got it. And then we were like, yeah, we kind of got the best position because we get to just show up to the senate meetings and give a lot of opinions and then just, like, go to events and, you know, crown medallions and, you know, whatever.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm sure people really didn't even know. Well, you didn't even know what this position was going to be, but.

Oh, yeah, and it's the best because we don't have to be reelected next year. All the other positions, you have to be reelected, but we're locked in for four years, and the fourth year, we're president of the. The student Alumni network.

Oh, wow.

Yeah.

So when you're locked in, of course, you have to, like, want to, like, you know, if you didn't like it, it would be sort of a bummer.

Well, I don't think that's really an option. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well. Oh, if I didn't like it, then. Yeah. I mean, they make it chill. Oh, yeah. There are second years and third years, but third years never come to anything because they're busy. And then second years right now are studying for step. And then 1/4 year came to one dinner, but he has, like, kids, so.

Yeah. Wow. So you guys.

Oh, and. And the fourth year said match day yesterday, and he actually didn't do match day because he's taking a gap year or whatever.

Okay. Okay. You guys were really just holding down the fort for the whole alumni thing. The first years.

Yeah. And then Alex ditched me, so. Yeah.

So it was just you?

It's just me.

Well, it's good thing you didn't blow it off. I mean, can you imagine all those people would still be standing around waiting for them to go?

I. That's. Well, I was. I was feeling bad again because, like, I was late and I was embarrassed that, like, I was late and stuff and, you know, whatever. But, I mean, at the end of the day I was the only one that showed up.

So you were fine. Oh, how was match Day there?

I didn't go well.

Did you hear? What'd you hear about it? Were people happy? People crying?

Honestly, I don't really know. I haven't really gone on. I haven't really looked at stuff. I saw like one video. I don't know, I. I guess people are happy. Yeah. Running around. It seemed kind of chaotic. I am glad that, you know, if you matched before, you get an email Monday to see if you matched and then you just have to wait. People were telling their Match day stories and stuff and they said that like this one girl was like, yeah, someone took a video of me and I opened my thing and I got my number one pick and I was so happy. And then it panned to my friend who did. Who matched really low in her rank list and she was crying and like, yeah, I just. And we're talking a lot about this. It's just crazy how like that's how our jobs get picked is you just, you don't get to choose like what your job's going to be. You literally just put your name into these different things and try to see.

Yeah, the Glockenfleken does a funny tick tock explaining the whole match process. And just like, you know, they're like, oh, well. And so then you can negotiate your contract. No, there's no negotiations. Just like this is where you go and just, you know, all these things. It's like, it's not at all like, like any sort of regular job would be.

You know where to find us @Generations MD on Instagram and Tik Tok. And if you have any questions or interested in being a guest on the podcast, you can email us ataskgenerations mdmail.com and we will talk to you next week. Bye, guys.

Bye.