Residency Fate Day Countdown

Just 14 days until rank order lists are due and 37 days until Match Day! Very exciting. And kind of scary, but mostly exciting.... In a month and a week I'll find out where I matched and where we will be living for the next 3-5 years. And then before I know it intern year will be here and I'll be doing what I have only dreamed of up to this point.

Right now I'm doing at IM-TSS (Internal Med, Teaching Selective Service) in Cali and trying to remember all the adult medicine that I have not had to practice or use in months! I think my brain has atrophied during 4th year. It is truly sad how little I remember. I know that I used to know all about CHF, Renal Disease, Liver Failure, you know, the bread and butter adult medicine stuff... but I just don't have the immediate recall and end up having to look up EVERYTHING. Kind of embarrassing as I'm a big, grown-up MS IV. Yet it seems my medical knowledge is a file cabinet that has to be opened and indexed constantly, it is not a ready to read book like I want it to be. Not yet. But I guess that's why you have to do residency... to learn what you have learned and to practice and practice.

On the bright side I love, love, love talking to my patients, explaining diagnosis, getting code status confirmed, calling consults, writing order and just generally acting like a doctor. IM-TSS is a Hospitalist run service with no residents which means the MS IVs are the acting residents. It is like a sub-I without resident support. But I love that part of it. And the taking care of my patients part. I don't love it when my patient ends up needing to be intubated and upgraded to the ICU. But he is okay and I don't think I could have done anything differently or prevented his intubation... Medicine is awesome and I am humbled daily to be reminded that this is what I get to do with my life.

Residency Fate Day countdown is underway.... 37 more wake-ups to go!