Writing this piece on new year’s day I look forward to one of the most pivotal years of my life.
Obviously the most critical aspect of the next few months will be finally reaching the point of applying to residency. As I was reminded by two of my oldest friends, it has been nearly a decade since we graduated from high school and for almost the entirety of that time becoming a proper physician has been the central pillar around which so many other formative events have taken place. Given this long journey which has occupied nearly half my life, it should be understandable why having the mere space of a few months before taking such a life-defining action is both daunting and exciting. While I am certain the former will by far be the predominant emotion come the fall, for now, I am enthused by the prospect of traveling the country and engaging with other medical students and physicians who share my passion for my chosen field.
The other exciting point of the next few months is to complete the rest of my clinical rotations. While there have been a few frustrations these past few months I have for the most part derived a great deal of fulfillment from my rotations thus far. Still ahead are neurology, psychiatry, and my outpatient clinical rotations ahead. Both neurology and psychiatry were among the most interesting subjects for me during my preclinical years and so I am very excited to see how they are applied in actual patient care. Additionally, having been focused on hospital-based care up to this point I am eager to see and learn to function with the outpatient environment.
