Nothing feels better than walking out of a shelf exam to this in my inbox:
I hope this note finds you doing well after your peds shelf! Congratulations on completing it. You worked hard and slept little, while managing to work out, eat well and love me – you are amazing and I’m very proud of you.
I’ve been thinking recently about the differences between med school now and how it was like 30-40 years ago…I’ve heard horror stories. It was cutthroat, and it must have taken the strongest type of personality to survive it. The culture has changed in ways I can’t begin to imagine. Yet med school is still one if not the most challenging thing I’ve done. I am profoundly appreciative of the daily support I receive from my husband, my family, my friends and colleagues, faculty, physicians, mentors, staff, and countless other members of the community (like recently the baker at town hall coffee who cut up an apple for me because she was worried that I hadn’t eaten enough during a day’s worth of studying). So, simply, thank you. Thank you very much.
anna in med school 
We all love you and are proud of you!
Thank you so much, Jill! Means a great deal to me! Love you back!
Indeed, we are very proud of you, but this secret admirer of yours is making the rest of us guys look inadequate….lol…Congratulations…
Hahaha…I’ll let him know 🙂 But in all seriousness, thank you Joseph. You encouragement and support over the last…well, a lot of years, have meant the world to me. Been thinking of you, miss you, love you!
I think it’s so important to have a great support system. It sounds like you already have some wonderful cheerleaders by your side! 🙂
I could not agree more (on both your points 🙂 ). Thank you so much; I am ridiculously grateful. And, on a side note, I’m really happy that med schools have seemed to identify the importance of support systems and that they try to build them within the school itself. Thank you again!