Mattehew Lipp, M.D. - Guest Speaker at the 2003-02 entering class -

 

I would like to wish congratulations to all of you here today. You are medical students. That is a great accomplishment. Each and every one of you is on your way to becoming doctors. Hey, it is only four years away. Trust me, time does go fast.

I cannot believe that it was ten years ago that I was sitting right where you are. I was probably feeling the same variety of emotions that you are feeling; excitement, nervousness, and the dreaded sensation of being overwhelmed. Let me put you at ease and say, IT CAN BE DONE!!! Also, you want to know the secret of success…you MUST study. This rule applies to anywhere you go to school to study medicine. To do well in medical school, you need to study and work hard.

But, there are certain intangibles that I received via my medical education at the UAG that made me the physician that I am today. First, I was given the opportunity to examine and treat patients early in my studies. These experiences are the best compliments to your didactic lectures. You see the manifestations of the diseases, hear the murmurs and wheezes, and perform the actual physical maneuvers.

This opportunity to treat a real live patient made me want to study harder so I could learn the material to adequately care for my patients.

The opportunity to treat patients at the start of my medical education introduced me to the humanistic side to medicine. The patients that I was treating in my clinic were not a paragraph in a book, or an actor, but real people, someone’s parent or child. They were entrusting you with their most valued possession, there health. This is a very important lesson to become a successful physician. Finally, an early introduction to patient care will help you develop your history taking skills, hone your physical exams, and learn and practice, what I like to call the cutting, stabbing, poking and prodding skills, that all physicians need to develop. This will be to your advantage when you begin your internships and residency’s because on the hospital wards, it doesn’t matter where you studied. It only matters if you can get the job done and do it right.

Of course there is the benefit of learning Spanish. I cannot begin to tell you what an asset being a bi-lingual physician in the United States. Whatever city you practice in, you will have Spanish-speaking patients.

For example, last week in my clinic, 9 out of the 10 patients that I treated were primary Spanish speakers. The ability to be bilingual, wich you will be when you finish your studies, will increase your value and importance to your residency program and your professional practice.

By living in a foreign country for an extended period of time, you learn the culture, understand the customs, and appreciate the new cuisine. You will really get to know and understand another population. Not only will you be bilingual, but bicultural. Just remember the largest growing population in the United States is individuals from Spanish speaking countries. They are going to need physicians that not only speak their language, but truly understand them.

I am not going to kid you; the next four years are going to be tough. You are going to want to quit school, throw your books out the window, and begin to wonder was it worth it. It is worth it, and don’t throw your books out the window, they are expensive. Because at the end of four years, you will be a physician, attaining a dream that most of you have had for a long time. I know it was my dream to become a doctor, a dream that took me from Long Island, New York to Guadalajara, Mexico. The rest is history.

I look back at my time at the UAG and in Guadalajara with the fondest memories. I learned medicine, had the incredible opportunity to live in a foreign land, learning its costumes, language and culture. My training here made me a carrying and dedicated physician, and a well-rounded person.

I wish all of you the best of luck, and look forward to seeing you on the hospital wards.