Outbreak

Time: 1995.
Place: Biology class. Video running, showing us the movie Outbreak.

This was a defining moment in my life; I had been hesitating whether to honor the family tradition and be a doctor, or pursue my writing/literary aspirations. Outbreak glorified combating disease. I want to do THAT. It was just so unbelievably cool, and majestic, and idealistic.

What I failed to realize that I wanted to be an epidemiologist; not a physician who treats individual cases. I wanted to solve mysteries, study disease patterns and natural history.

I wanted to be the Sherlock Holmes of medicine, not the guys that get information handed out to them on a platter -- the clinicians. But I will only come to that realization 14 years later, after an enlightening trial and error game with medicine.

Epidemiology, as I am studying it now in my postgrad years, is fascinating beyond belief.  I fell in love with it from day one!

As I was reading some articles now, Outbreak flashed back in my head.... and I wondered how my life would've turned out if I skipped school that day.

Olfactory memory

So I was back in Kasr alAini med school for some business; I was walking down the sidewalk by the anatomy 'mashraha' --the morgue-- when I was suddenly hit with the unbearable stench of badly-ventilated, partially decomposed, formalin-soaked bodies.

But instead of eliciting a powerful gag reflex, which it most rightfully should, the smell just transported me years back : to my first day of medical school.

I could, literally, feel 18 again! The black pants I was wearing that first day, the mauve taupe silk blouse I wore--and of course had to throw out because of the stench that wouldn't get out-- flashed back in my memory, uncalled and uninvited but most certainly welcomed.

The excitement and the rush of being a doctor, with my brand-new white coat dangling on my arm, was so refreshing. The premise that I might change the world, or at least the medical practice in Egypt, and the dreams that I will be saving lives each and every step of the way all came back to me.
What was strange is the happiness and sheer bliss that I felt. I was not disillusioned. I was not sad that none of that had happened. It was as if I was transported back in time, to that moment, and I was that hopeful, idealistic girl again. It was magical!

Before, I had never been a firm believer that olfactory memories can be so vivid, but let me tell you this belief is long gone...