In Defense of Knitting

We're in what we call "Phase Five" of medical school now. Because our schedule here doesn't completely flow on a year-to-year basis, each chunk is called a "Phase." During first year, it was Phase 1, second year was more or less Phase 2, and so on. So I guess you could say we're Fifth Years now. Heh. I'm totally in remedial medical school.

Anyway. All Phase 5 really involves is going to helpful and interesting lectures where they try to 'prepare' us for real life. Lectures on the finances of medicine, and lectures on our personal finance, interspersed with reviews of basic medicine that we should all know (but tend to forget).

Our one responsibility during this phase is to Show Up. We even have little barcodes that we have to sign in with.

They've added another dimension to Phase 5 that was not present in the earlier phases, however: We are not allowed to have our computers. Now, I must admit, that during Phases 1 and 2, I was horrible with the computer. If a lecture started getting even remotely boring, I was off onto the internet, IM-ing my classmates, shopping, playing Bejeweled... Anything but paying attention. I'm positive that the lecturers knew what we were doing, but at that time, it was kind of accepted. And, honestly, it was almost expected. (Rarely would any faculty ask us to leave our computers shut).

But now that we're more or less 'adults' (or at least that's what they're trying to convince us of), we're expected to Show Up and to at least marginally Pay Attention. (with the occasional game of hang-man, or a note passed on whether or not the presenter looks like Guy Smiley)

Yesterday, there was a big kerfuffle because one of our classmates was knitting during a presentation. Granted, this is a person who is notorious for trying to get away with things. With everything. (i.e. going to Starbucks off campus and then calling the hospital operator to patch them in when they got paged so that it didn't register as an off-campus call; or wearing headphones during a no-computer lecture) This is probably one of the least respected people in our class for that reason.

But, personally, I think knitting is a great way to spend lecture. It helps me focus, keeps me from debating Guy-Smiley look-alikes, and actually makes me remember what I hear. It keeps my mind active and engaged. I know it probably sounds silly to the non-knitters out there, but that's the way it is. Why do you think knitting circles (or quilting, etc.) are so popular? I'm sad that knitting is not a more culturally accepted thing in the medical world.

I'd write more, but I have to so sign in!!