Despite temperatures in the 60s last week, as I look out my apartment window, the white lights that enshroud each tree in Midtown Crossing’s Turner Park announce that the winter holiday season is upon us. So, too, do the increasing number of colored lights on display as I walk to and from campus during the increasingly shorter days.
The winter holiday season brings the opportunity for time with family and friends, as well as to reflect on the events of the prior year. For many of our faculty, staff and students, that time is limited by the need to continue to provide care to our patients, prepare grant applications for deadlines that come quickly after the first of the year, prepare for teaching assignments next year, study for USMLE 1, and a myriad of other things that make life at an academic medical center more than a 40-hour-a-week job.
The many UNMC holiday parties and events scheduled before and after the new year provide an opportunity for fellowship. When I am invited and able to attend, I always enjoy the opportunity to catch up with members of the college, our clinical partners and other UNMC friends and colleagues in a more social environment than can occur while working.
Although juggling one’s time over the holidays can be a challenge and accordingly stressful, I would encourage you to try and find some time to enjoy some of the holiday festivities with your colleagues. You might even bump into the dean of the college of medicine, which I recognize may or may not be viewed a positive.
I wish you all a happy winter holiday season, and a somewhat premature Happy New Year!