Hi everyone. My name is Tuong and I am a first-year medical student.

I
am extremely honored to be here, but I have to make a quick
disclaimer. During anatomy, I was not the brightest student in my
class. I was the person who often accidentally severed an important
artery, and the person who accidentally identified a structure as an
ovary when it was clearly pinned on a male body. Despite all that, I
hope that you will allow me to tell you two short stories: one about
respect, and one about gratitude towards your loved ones.
For us medical students, we learned how to dissect a body at the same
time that we learned how to do a physical exam during your regular
doctors visit. Although there are some differences, the duality of an
actor teaching us physical exam skills with his body and a departed
patient teaching us anatomy with his body mutually reinforced my
respect for both life and death. The first time that I made the incision
onto my patients body, I was afraid. Against all logic, I was scared that
he would let out a cry, as if I had made a horrible mistake. But as time
passed, I realized that he, like my father, was a silent teacher. He
allowed me to make as many mistakes as I wanted, at the cost of his
own body. And when I succeeded in isolating a structure, I felt that he
was silently approving, that I had done some justice to his sacrifices.
As several of my colleagues and I spent more and more time in lab, we
began recognizing structures as having belonged to a specific patient.
It wasnt just a heart; it was someones heart. And during exams, we
tried our best to at least correctly identify the structures belonging to
our corresponding patients. In some ways, I think that was something
we hoped would show our respect to them.
BLAHHH
In closing, I would like to describe my class to you. We are an
extremely diverse group, with people from 21 years old to people who
simply no longer want to talk about their age. However, I think that as
future physicians, we all are people who believe in the best possibility.
Even though we are taught to think about the most likely diagnoses
and outcomes, we always hope that you are the medical miracle, that
you can recover from this illness even when you yourself do not think
so. Even though medical school is difficult and time-consuming, we
hope that our partners will be understanding, that our babies cry a
little less, that our friends appreciate the little time we spend with
them, and that our families continue to love us even though we are far
apart. So I hope that you will do the same: believe in the best
possibility for the passing of your loved ones. I may not know your
individual stories, but I know that your loved ones body donations
have made a multifold impact on my colleagues and me. We are

indefinitely thankful, and we will make sure their courage and kindness
not go to waste. Thank you.