Oh, how time flies—people tell you all the time, you will be finished with college, medical school, residency with a blink of an eye. Some months feel slower than others. I have now completed 4 months of residency! To think that November and December will mark months five and six. I imagine those will fly by too as I have Internal Medicine wards in November and Emergency Medicine in December.
But I’m writing because I want to talk about the last three months of intern year. I’ve written all about my first month of intern year on psychiatry emergency services but I’ve yet to give an update on the last three months, so here goes! To say I’ve learned a lot is an understatement, and I just keep on learning.
I rotated through neurology at the VA in August. What an experience! I have never had neurology prior to residency because I was the class in medical school who did not get to rotate through neurology as the program was being re-vamped. I was terrified of starting because I felt like I knew nothing except for what I studied for the boards. I definitely did a lot of watching videos on how to properly perform a neurological exam.
It was a tough month as there was always much to do and the EMR at the VA is vastly different from what I am used to when I rotate through at the University. All in all, it was a learning experience month. I am grateful to be pursuing Psychiatry instead of Neurology, but there was a lot to learn and that’s a good thing. You learn the most when things are uncomfortable. That’s a hard statement to process, but it’s true. There was one attending in particular who made my whole month—he shared with me I was one of the best residents he’s had, and that I will make a great physician because I truly care about my patients. I will carry that with me for a long time.
Read part two.
