‘Unexpected death of a colleague,’ I read in the subject line.
As I combed through the remainder of the email, I came to learn that a second-year resident had died in a car accident near his hometown. It was his name that gave me pause.
Just a few weeks prior, I entered one of the campus cafeterias for a meal. There, I noticed a young man sitting alone wearing a navy-blue jacket. A University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine crest was stitched on his chest.
“Hey, man – I happened to notice your jacket. Did you attend UPenn?”
“Yeah, I did. I’m Joe! Nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you, too. A few of my closest friends also graduated from there!” I replied.
A conversation started, just pleasant banter that danced around the east coast versus west coast biases, shared colleagues and friends, Portland’s city designation with...