Academia

Since it had been my goal from the age of 16 onwards to earn my doctorate in music and teach college choir, I enjoyed hearing my students call me Dr. Borton. But now that I hear it no more, and am working with medical doctors, I'm reminded of a joking statement made my academic doctors - "Hi, I'm a doctor ... but not the kind that helps people." A few weeks ago, when I mentioned this to my friend Jerry Blackstone, who heads the choirs here at the University of Michigan, he replied, "Yeah - I'm the kind that screams at my choirs when they're not singing right!"

Transitions

I am allotted a full hour lunch break at work, and many days I've been using it for a brisk walk. This week I've discovered a walk I especially like ... a round trip of nearly 3 miles (which I'm doing in 51-52 minutes), down from the big hill on which the hospital is situated, east on Fuller (a main thoroughfare) to the North Campus of the University, and then up to the School of Music, where I earned my Master of Music degree (in choral conducting) in 1982, at the age of 25. This is a scenic walk, crossing the Huron River at one point, and then especially nice as it goes onto the paths of North Campus. And I like it, too, because it provides a kind of symbolic bridge between my new life and my old.











This has been a difficult transition, as all I had ever wanted to be from the age of 16 onwards was a college choir director. At least I got to do it for a few years! I earned my Doctor of Musical Arts degree (again, choral conducting) from Michigan State University in 1988 (age 31), and taught at southern Michigan's Olivet College until my May 1993 accident at the age of 36. But, with God's unfailing support, and the love and support of family and friends, I'm getting through it!

Work

My job (which I continue to think of as "new," even though it's been over a month now) continues to go well. It's still a nice challenge to have my keyboarding, listening, and spelling abilities all taxed, particularly late each afternoon, when the work really comes pouring in (typing of "consults," as outside physicians contact us, asking for a consultation from one of the University's faculty in Pathology, and it's my job to transcribe the faculty's dictation), and my colleagues seem to be depending on me to do increasingly more, and increasingly well. This is a good feeling - though still somewhat dizzying to be back to full-time work for the first time in 18 years! And it's all made much more feasible by the total support and help of my wonderful wife Michelle.

New job going well

My new position, transcribing consults for the Pathology faculty in University Hospital at the University of Michigan, is going well. I began on July 13, and what was originally promised as a one-month temporary position has already been extended to "at least through the summer ... and we'll hope to be able to keep you beyond that if the budget permits." They seem pleased with my work, and I am enjoying it very much. And my colleagues - Beth, Laurie, Benita, and Mary - are absolutely terrific, both friendly and helpful. In the early days of the position, they wanted me to work 8-5 in order to undergo training for various responsibilities that went with the position, but I was told that eventually they wanted me to work 10-7, and today is the first day of that new schedule (though I did have a one-day trial of it last Friday). So, all praise and glory to God for bringing this about!