Day 1 started with a picturesque background of the Breckenridge Mountains as strangers gathered together for the common goal of patient-centered care. It then continued into a busy day filled with health professionals and students chipping away at the mammoth iceberg that is patient safety (or rather the lack of it) through personal stories and experiences. Finally, the night took a gaggle of us to a local Thai restaurant where it ended with a shebang filled with laughter, introspection, and appreciation for the new friends we were surrounded by.
I think back and wonder how such different walks of live connected so quickly, but I cannot seem to define it by a single instant. Rather, it was an amalgamation of moments. It was the faculty who were in perfect harmony today and whose enthusiasm was infectious. It was the patient-care tragedies we heard of sons, husbands, patients that touched each of us. They were the tiny moments of creating inside jokes and friendly banter at the fire pit, the bar, or the trail. Each moment lent itself to form the bonds we created at the end of the day.
Thank you to all of those who shared your stories today. It was a humbling and eye-opening experience and I look forward to creating more bonds and sharing more adventures in the coming days.
P.S. When I mean the group of us became friends, I really mean it: we were like those life-long reunited schoolmates reliving our childhood days as we hooted and hollered like hooligans down Main Street. Now, who would believe we met yesterday?