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L.
Maximilian Buja Darla
Brown David
Bates Roy
Prichard Ester
Fant |
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Lights . Camera
. . Student Retreat |
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| UT-H
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| Once
upon a time, there was Great Flood. No, not Tropical Storm Allison.
This one was simply known as the First Great Flood, and it happened
in 1976. The University of Texas Medical School Houston was only a
few years old,but the flood and ensuing damage had dampened spirits
and morale. A group of students had a plan to rejuvenate the depressed atmosphere of the Medical School - and from those early thoughts, the Student Retreat was born. |
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The Players The Janitors Committee. The King of Hearts. The Schlepper King and Schlepper Prince. The Grand Matrixer. First-year students. Faculty. Camp doctors. |
The Setting A camp in a remote pine forest northwest of Houston known as Camp Allen. The camp features dormitories, a chapel, meeting rooms, a dining hall, an outdoor pavilion, and plenty of recreation spaces. |
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"The flood delayed the onset of school that year, and students who were part of an ethics discussion group that met at my house began talking about how the flood was influencing students' attitude of the school," remembered Henry Strobel, Ph.D., assistant dean for student affairs. "We started organizing and held our first Student Retreat for the incoming class in 1977." Sixteen faculty members and students worked to put on that first retreat to provide some camaraderie and goodwill toward the new medical students. "We had fun that first year," Dr. Strobel said. "But, since we were a small work group, we didn't have time to do the most important thing - interact with the first-year students." At that first retreat, part of the evening's entertainment included the showing of a foreign film, "The King of Hearts." Described by Dr. Strobel as the story of a soldier who inhabits a war-torn French village that has been abandoned and left to be run by mental patients, the film did not go over the way he had planned. "No one liked the movie, and they all wondered why we had shown that. Out of that, the skit was born," explained Dr. Strobel, who has taken a leading role in guiding each of the subsequent 25 retreats. The retreat has evolved since 1977, but its mission has not changed. Today, students arrive as strangers on Friday morning for a full slate of activities, including games, faculty presentations, and smallgroup discussions, and leave as close friends after lunch on Saturday afternoon. "The retreat is all about bonding - we show the new students that we're a part of you, you're a part of us," Dr. Strobel said. "The goal is to get the students to know each other, and the result is that they are having fun." In addition to introducing the students to each other and the faculty, the retreat also introduces the students to their new status as medical students. "The retreat teaches the new students how to survive medical school in a jovial fashion. It makes students feel comfortable in their environment to optimize their learning," said Mark Farnie, M.D., '87, who has attended 13 retreats as both a student and a faculty member. Another important outcome of the retreat is that it puts the students on equal footing, thereby drawing the class together. "It's intimidating to get thrown into this environment, realizing you're at the top of your class at your respective college, and when you come here you may not be at the top anymore," Dr. Farnie said. "The retreat is a way for the class to become strong collectively, because the only way they will get through medical school is by relying on each other's strengths." The skit is the pinnacle of the annual retreat and is the culmination of year-round work by volunteer second-year students, who host and plan the retreat for the first-years. A variety show of sorts, the skit highlights the nonmedical talent of the students - from song and dance to acting, lighting, and filming. . . . Page 2 |
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MS
Student Retreat