Wicked Good

great weekend. spent time with friends, enjoyed the sunshine out at the zoo yesterday (and in a dark movie theater today). generally feeling relaxed and happy. amazing how sunlight can make such a difference to the psyches of us human beans.

and i’m feeling very much in love with medicine right now. sometimes i get to thinking about the fact that i get to practice medicine, be a part of healing, be like those giants of healthcare i’ve admired for so long/respected above anyone else…and it makes me want to weep. it’s such an enormous feeling. i can’t believe how blessed i am to be allowed to do this.

and i’m enjoying internal medicine now. i’ve seen a variety of conditions and am getting a little more comfortable in at least initiating medical care for new admits. this next week i’m working midnights (7p-7a) and will be on a “rapid response” team where we respond to code blue calls (resp distress/cardiac arrest on adult patients anywhere in the hospital). should be interesting. i found that at night an 8 hr shift flies by, so i’m hoping it’s similar w/ a 12 hr shift.

i also just found out that one of my BFF classmates will be with me at the same hospital next month on my ER rotation. i immediately went into a daydream about us working side by side like a well-oiled machine, communicating complex instructions to one another with a mere twitch of an eyebrow, doing chest compressions on a patient across from each other and when we heroically revive the patient, giving each other a high five in slow motion over the patient’s chest while the nurses all clap…. i expressed this vision to my classmate and he said, “you know we’re not on a ‘Scrubs’ episode, right?” of course he’s right. it will be nothing like that.

(it will be exactly like that. i’m just sure of it. shun the non-believers).

what else? i should be studying more than i am. i’ve heard this IM exam is really difficult. but at this point i’m kind of unmotivated. i’ll have lots of time during the day time this week to start getting after it. and meanwhile, i’m learning a lot about the cases I see and preparing weekly mini lectures on various conditions that i give to the PA’s in the department. it’ll be alright. last year exams meant everything to us, our grades were our life. this year, they’re just occasional inconveniences. we have bigger things to be terrified about now. like treating patients proficiently, getting laughed/yelled at by our preceptors, and finding a job (gag).

so when i say i’m off to study tonight, you recognize that it of course actually means that i’m off to sit on my couch in my jammies and watch the Oscars, right?

i’m really hoping paul reubens wins best actor by a write-in vote.