College of Medicine Cup gives students opportunity to relax and have fun

It’s not often a second-year medical school student gets to shove his professor to the ground in broad daylight. But then again, they aren’t usually racing each other on inflatable toy horses while playing a game of speed tic-tac-toe as the rest of their classmates cheer them on.

This is just a small slice of what makes MUSC’s annual College of Medicine Cup so appealing to its students and faculty. The annual tradition, now in its third year, pits four teams — Palmetto, Magnolia, Cypress and Oak — against one another in various competitions. The kind of things that might be a little difficult to envision the world’s future doctors doing — like having potato sack races and cooking competitions. But anything sounds appealing in comparison to studying all day.

 

On a sunny spring afternoon, hundreds of students crammed into the environs around MUSC’s Urban Farm and Greenberg Greenway while running, jumping and most importantly, laughing. Sure, it was a competition, but more accurately, it was an opportunity for students to get some fresh air and let off some steam.

“I’ll take a potato sack race over anatomy lab any day,” one student could be overheard saying.

 

“The idea behind the event is to give us the opportunity to just relax and take a break from the daily grind,” said student event coordinator and fourth-year COM student Melissa Koci. “This is the third year we’ve done this, and over the years, it’s gone from just a thing going on to a thing you don’t want to miss. Sure, it’s silly and ridiculous in ways, but I think it’s easy as students — and teachers, for that matter — to forget that sometimes a little sunshine can do wonders for our well-being.”

Adrienne Edge, director of Student Support and Wellness, who oversees the event each year, agreed. “Med school is so pressure packed. It’s great that we’ve created something that allows them to step away from that pressure — even if for a day  to relax and have a good time.”

 

Several local vendors were also on hand to provide healthy food, massages, even yoga to any hungry or interested students and faculty. Over the course of the four-hour competition, the teams battled it out for supremacy in cornhole, tug of war, relay races and even a Food Network’s “Chopped-” inspired cooking contest, judged by MUSC first lady Kathy Cole.

In the end, the Palmetto team came out on top, earning the coveted COM Cup trophy, but it was Cole who put the entire day in perspective: “I really feel like everybody who participated got something positive out of this experience — myself included,” she said.