Return to Harvard

After 27 years I finally returned to Boston and the Harvard Medical area. Of course the area is very built up and now all the Hospitals seem to be one big collective conglomerate. In my day, Beth Israel was very distinct from the Dana Faber Institute and Deaconess but no more, where one ends the next one starts.

The T (the Boston mass transit system)is still fairly decrepid and jammed packed with people who all seem to be under 30, My Lord! I never realised when I was one of them, that 90% of the people on the T are students. I bet Boston has more students per square yard than anywhere else in the country. My husband and I felt like 'seniors'almost everywhere we went. Speaking of the T at least it now comes out to the airport negating the need for the old 2 hour sit in the tunnel.

Well, my purpose of going to Boston was to return to my old stomping ground. I find that people at Schools of Public Health are always so interesting and 'Global'. Full of ideas about how to change the World's health.

On my way in to the Alumnae event I had the distinct pleasure of meeting the chief investigator of the MRFIT trial, himself an alumnus. The MRFIT trial was one of those pivotal trials that proved that a high Cholesterol causes heart disease. That was big news back then! He smiled when I suggested I might need his autograph, I believe he was from the class of 47!
At the registration desk, I asked if anyone else from the class of '84 was there. "What did you say" one of the students asked, "2004 or 1994?" "err... that would be 1984 I responded" now feeling very flattered as they all looked incredulously at me. I was similarly astounded to hear myself, could time possibly pass that fast? I was looking at graduate students in my old school who were not even born when I was there. We were equally fascinated by each other. "Its nice to know your anti-aging program is working" joked my husband.

Later,we went to Harvard yard and bought Harvard sweatshirts, mugs and key rings. Did I feel at home? Not at all, I felt like a tourist and when I discovered that Filene's had been closed my heart sank. All these years, to tell the truth that's what I missed most about Boston, Filene's!

I am officially a Marylander, proud and happy to be back doing what I love practicing medicine! Its nice to be able to go back when you want to but nothing beats the present. I often say reliving the past only wastes the present and diminishes the future. The future is ours to live ! Stay healthy, feel great, do better!!