Rite of Passage

Ring, ring, ring...

"Mr. Fung, I am calling to let you know Mr. Parma from Northern Telecomm was really impressed by you during last week's interview. He decided to offer you a 16-month probational work term."

"Great, when do I have to make up my mind?"

"The work term starts on May 1st. You must decide by April 25, because if you prefer to do something else, it leaves us a couple of days to notify other people on the wait-list."

"Can I... make... the decision... later...?" I faltered, knowing that I wouldn't receive any news from med schools until May 1st the earliest. It turned out that I was stuck. Once again, life became a gamble. Eventually I turned down this $33k/year programming job in the largest telecommunication company in Canada, a job that I knew I would love given my passion in programming. For a week after I made that choice, I couldn't sleep well. To much was at stake there.

On May 1st, I rushed to the admission's office and bugged the secretary until she opened my file and told me, "You are in. Congratulations!" Surprisingly, I wasn't all too ecstatic. I felt nothing but a huge relief.

My parents in the far East didn't get the news until I told them 2 months later. I was sure the whole world knew about it afterwards. They used to tell everyone: "my son went to the best highschool in town," whereas now the punch-line would become: "my son will soon be a doctor." Finally, I gave them something to be proud of.

The day that we all longed for finally arrived- the first day of class. The registration process was utterly sluggish and there was already a huge line-up awaiting chronic latecomers like me. The situation got worse because dentistry students also registered there. Waiting in line, I was reunited with many friends and sure they all looked happy. I was also glad to see my dear friend who was initially on the wait-list but finally made it there. He was such a good guy that if I were in the admissions, I could find little reason to reject him. He seemed to have destined himself to become a surgeon, although it would be a waste as he got a lot more to offer than a good pair of hands.

I also met an old friend who had all the makings of a competent doctor but was missing the heart of a good doctor- for all she cared about was money. Other than that I liked this girl very much and so I tried, over the years, to persuade her to find a real goal in life besides wealth. She ended up in dentistry and to my disappointment, she had not changed at all.

Finally I reached the end of the line where two gentlemen in the finest set of clothes were standing. One could not help sensing their superiority and some arrogance, indeed, as they were easily recognized as the Deans of Medicine and Dentistry respectively. I formally introduced myself to the Dean of Medicine but I guessed by the time he met the last of the 105 students in the class, he would have forgotten who this little guy in T-shirt and blue jeans was.

"Smile, ready, 1-2-3. Voila!" A few minutes later the machine spitted out a color ID card with my smiling face, and most importantly, with my name and "Medicine, MDCM" printed below it. For the first time in my life, I was ecstatic beyond description. "Look at this, man, did I make it or what!!!"

In the afternoon, we had our first welcoming lecture given by the Deans of Medicine and Dentistry. McGill's dentistry ran into some financial troubles in previous years, so it resorted to sending its students to join the Med-I class. For the next 16 months some 30 dentistry students would be like second-class citizens in the Med-I class where the curriculum was designed specifically for medical students. This meant that on the one hand, dentistry students had the privilege to learn medicine from head to toe, but on the other hand, they would have benefited more if they could learn in more details the stuff they really need to know.

"Welcome to the oldest and the best medical school in Canada. We are the oldest and it's a fact. We are the best, because we make no mistakes when we picked the best students- all of you here," said the Dean with his deep, commanding voice. This ego-boosting opening speech sent us all to the top of the world. Yes, it was just "BS", but I'm sure everyone loved it!

"Last year in the Med-I class, dentistry students did equally well as the medical students. This means either that the Dean of Medicine lied when he said they had the best students, or that we also have the best students in dentistry," said the Dean of Dentistry in an attempt to heighten the spirits of his students. And so the first day of class ended after a series of formality and bureaucracy.