di Sanal Thekkemuryil Abraham*

I am a Saudi-born Indian-origin who moved to the UK at the age of 9 where I did the majority of my schooling. After completing A-levels at Bournemouth Grammar School, I moved to Rome to read medicine at UCSC. I will be relocating back to England to do the UKFP starting with General Surgery (Colorectal) and afterwards to undergo specialist training to complete the MRCS/P and FRCS/P.
 

As I come to the end of 6 years of Medical School at Cattolica and about to cross the 'finish line', I have come to the blunt realisation that finish lines are somewhat arbitrary. From one perspective, I have achieved the ‘Dr’ title and is, without doubt, the most gratifying accomplishment in my life. It also marks the end of my life as a university student. Yet, from another angle, this transition merely represents the birth of my career as a doctor with the recognition that I will forever remain a student as long as I have the ‘Dr’ before my name. Over the years, I have grown into and matured as a professional from the naive juvenile who first started the course of medicine and surgery in the academic year of 2013/2014. Along with a medical degree, I am also packing the exquisite and finesse Italian cultural, culinary and linguistic grasp to take home with me. The student experience in Rome has given me a well-rounded and complete package that is unmatched elsewhere.

The course of Medicine and Surgery at Cattolica has its irrefutable imperfections but the incessant fight towards perfection is the reason why I believe in this course. To speak point-blank, I've spent my 6 years going through disappointments and blankness after many insistent accounts of injustice and unfairness but several figures within this course itself raised up my hope and inspired me to continue my campaign towards honesty and uprightness without compromising on my principles. Although I found myself demotivated at times, I consider myself lucky to have found certain people who continuously impassioned and encouraged me to advance through. It was through medicine and surgery that I discovered my strength as an individual after going through trying times fondling the pinnacle of my patience and longanimity. Today, I have come to the realisation that an honest fail is worth more than a crafty pass; marks are of low value in defining a good doctor. A good doctor must be conscientious, humble and compassionate – demonstrated to me by Medicine and Surgery, through a handful of inspiring doctors, diligent administrators, adroit professors and duteous students.

Leaving Cattolica, I will embark on a new journey to do the foundation programme in the UK after which I plan to specialise there itself in intensive care medicine or otorhinolaryngology – equipped with both professional and personal enlightenment that the university conferred onto me.

*neolaureato al Corso in Medicine and Surgery