Oh What A Night!

We were not your typical group of medical students.

We were all placed in groups and numbered. We ended up being Group Six, but unofficially, we later changed our name to Group Sex, which gives you a slight indication as to where our minds were.

(So far down the gutter that sewer rats were nibbling on it.)

We were not your typical group of medical students.

I remember that we were on a country rotation up in Albury, and, bored out of our minds, we decided to shoot a video, titled "Kidnap 101".

We had a video camera and seven amateur but willing medical students/actors and we had a great time.

The hospital security guards drove up to us midway through "shooting" because the nurses had reported a noise coming from the back of the hospital. It was basically R, the most petite member of our group, kicking and screaming as we threw a blanket over her head and hoisted her over our shoulders before throwing her into the boot of our car.

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We were not your typical group of medical students.

We were waiting for a tutorial in class one day. Our tutor was an Orthopaedic fellow who appreciated our sense of humour. We decided that it would be funny if one of us hid in the closet and then literally just walk out of the closet ten minutes into the tutorial and then join the rest as if nothing had happened.

And so the tutor comes in, and takes a roll call, noting that K is either missing or late. He begins his tutorial, and then five minutes later, K just walks out of the closet nonchalantly, and said, coolly, "Oh hi, guys. Sorry I'm late."

We try our best to hide our smiles while K takes a seat and takes out his notepad from his bag. Our tutor is stunned for the briefest of moments before shaking his head ever so slightly, smiling, and then continuing his tutorial.

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We were not your typical group of medical students.

Whenever we had time between classes, we would duck down to the nearby McDonald's on B__ Street.

We would sit there with our fries and Cokes, amongst the young mothers and their children running around them in between bites of nuggets.

Our conversations would start, and then one of us would then make a naughty comment or pose a totally inappropriate-for-family-restaurants "What if?" scenario out of the blue. We would all burst out in laughter, and inevitably, one of us would raise our forearm, and look at the non-existent watch, and then say "Now, how long did that take us that time?"

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We are not your typical group of doctors.

We were sitting over luscious pieces of steak and chips at The Meat and Wine Co. yesterday, the five out of the seven of us reunited after not seeing each other for months. Some of them were meeting K for the first time.

They were eager to show K how she had chosen wrongly. Very wrongly.

It was a truly magical night. We talked and laughed like the good old times, and spoke of our trips abroad. It wasn't long before the very first inappropriate comment and the ensuing "Now, how long did it take us that time?"

Our conversations weaved between the inane and important as we talked about technological advances and teleportation(!), medical ethics, the latest movies, laughed over inside jokes and brooded over our jobs. We laughed, sometimes irreverently, at the things that we had seen or done at work. It was a delayed cathartic release at what would have seemed at the time an unhappy moment or an almost insurmountable moment for us as doctors.

Not wanting to end the night early, they came over to my place, and the conversations continued over hot tea and Youtube clips. We fed off each other's humour and insights, and although we were tired, and work was waiting the very next day for most of us, we wanted to make the most of the here and now; tonight.

Words cannot express how much I truly enjoy sharing nights like these together. I know that it is more than coincidence that we have ended up as groupmates, and I thank God for their presence in my life. I have had the privilege of seeing three of them get married, and I know that this is a friendship that will last throughout the years.

I know that some of my group members who are reading this will be smiling and silently thinking to themselves -

"Man, HK is so gay..."

Ah well, whatever it is, my friends, it needed to be said. :)

So here's to you, Group Sex, atypical medical students, great doctors, and even greater friends.

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Oh, what a night!
Late December, back in '63,
What a very special time for me,
'Cause I remember what a night.

- Oh, What A Night! Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons