“T
he lecture on Medical Ethics will be held in the auditorium immediately following lunch.”
It was my first week of medical school. Excitement nervousness and anxiety had all bundled together and began living inside a small space within my chest. After spending close to ten years in yeshivah and kollel the months leading up to the start of medical school had me particularly anxious about my lack of background in the medical sciences. Although I had completed the prerequisite science courses to allow me to begin medical school the bulk of my time was spent burrowing through the intricate pages of Shas and its commentaries. Would my meager science education enable me to maintain the enormous workload that medical school would require? Would my classmates be whizzing by while I still grappled with the basics? These thoughts overwhelmed me.
However a much bigger concern took up a more prominent place in my mind. How would I handle the transition from the insulated walls of yeshivah to the large secular world of academia? Universities are notorious for their atheistic leanings when teaching science courses and I understood that this particular medical school starkly upheld this tradition. How would I handle the constant barrage of evolution anti-religion and G-dlessness? All these fears were suddenly confronted head-on in my very first week of school. A lecture on medical ethics. Given by the dean.
I spent that lunch break mentally preparing myself. I reviewed all of the philosophical arguments I’d garnered over a lifetime of Torah study. I wanted to be prepared to answer at least to myself every incredulous proposition that would be espoused. Then I took my seat in the auditorium and prepared for the mental battle about to take place.
