On Promenades and Doing Life, by blogger of the month Cherec Dickey

When I graduated high school, it was obvious that proms were over, right? 

Well, a few years later, I ventured out into the desert to attend med school in Israel.  And what do I find going on in the March of my first year?  A medical school prom!

A medical school prom!

This past Wednesday night was the 2^nd Annual Prom at MSIH.  It was a fantastic event put on by MSIH AMSA (American Medical Student Association) and Student Council.  We rented out the Smilansky Bar in the Old City for all of MSIH (plus some Israeli students) to have a formal extravaganza!

Avi and his amazing voice open up the night with "Human" by The Killers. Photo credit: Jason

Prom at Smilansky Bar as the guests were
arriving (photo credit to Adie)

So we dressed up all pretty and went out for a night on the town.  Everyone looked wonderful, well, for most of the time. As the night wore on, some of the guys determined that they might look better without their shirts. Whether that was true or not is a debate I’m not prepared to engage in.  Needless to say, it was an interesting mid-week evening.

That’s right, mid-week.  We had class the next day.  I’m sure you can assume how class attendance turned out the next morning . . .

Some of us girls in the first year class, looking all
beautiful J  (photo credit to Adie) 

I must say that it was a bit different than high school prom.  Unlike my high school proms, delicious Mediterranean food was served (including the typical yummy Israeli salads and kebabs), there was an open bar, and the administration came out to enjoy the event with us (instead of chaperoning). 

There were no awkward dates or stoic photographs of the couples.  There were no awkward slow dances, although I can’t say that there wasn’t any awkward dancing.  A lovely opening speech was given by Prof. Rivka Carmi, the President of Ben-Gurion University (the first woman to be in such a position in Israel).  She expressed how much she loves MSIH and how she’s been involved in our program from when the idea was first conceived.  She is also one of my personal role models, and I was pleasantly surprised to see her.

Prof. Clarfield and the band, putting on an
 awesome performance
for MSIH and our guests. (photo credit to Adie) 

Live music was provided by MSIH students and administration (i.e. our very own Director, Prof. Mark Clarfield).  We even had a boy band perform, and of course all the girls were swooning J

 I have to say that we have some crazy awesome musical talent at MSIH.  Oh, yeah, we’ve got style, too.  I sat back for a few minutes and looked out over the crowd to see my fellow medical students dressed in their snazzy outfits, singing, smiling, laughing, meeting new people, hanging out with friends, and just having a good time.  I thought to myself how proud I am to be a part of this program, where people here work hard to make a difference in the world but don’t neglect to take time to enjoy a formal event with awesome people and ose chayim, which in Hebrew means, “Have fun,” or literally, “Do life.”  - blogger of the month, Cherec Dickey