Whoa, future is fast approaching!
It is Year 4 of medical school for me and it feels good. I will say that this has been the best year of my medical school career. The rotations I have been on this year have all been solid and I love that I know what I want to do with my life and that I can look forward to doing this! For those that have not been told, I am pursuing psychiatry residency programs. Yes, trailing behind the footsteps of mother psych ARNP. On my other blog (ellensburgdiningclub.wordpress.com) you can read about this transformation. For now, just know that each psych elective this past year has made me feel closer to home than most can imagine. It's like if you spent the first 18 years of your life in China, then never saw a Chinese person until last year and rediscovered that all of the things you love about China are still there and the things you disliked or didn't understand make sense now. This is what coming into psychiatry was like for me. I digress.
Year 4 of med school has consisted of away-rotations/Sub-I's and interviews. I started out this school year by doing a 4-week elective in Washington DC/NoVa and rediscovered my appreciation for living on the East Coast. However, the humidity was killer and I was gross. I did enjoy meeting people from all over the world while visiting this hip city. Hopeful that DC pans out again in the future, but if not, I get it. I studied for Step 2 during this elective which worked out better than expected. I studied in the mornings before work and in the evenings until 10 or 11pm. I loved living in NoVa as I was able to walk < 0.5 miles to the nearest coffee shop/shopping oasis and get relief from the heat. I studied in this boxy-style coffee shop and occupied a seat until my computer battery died.
Just my luck, I was studying for step 2 in a trendy coffee shop during the height of the Pokemon Go craze! Many times during my study sessions, random groups of teens/adults would hover over my table and play Pokemon Go. Apparently squirtle and his friends liked hanging around me.
I took many opportunities to reunite with friends from GTown and old roommate Matt and his wife. I think I went to a BBQ every weekend. DC folks are fond of the BBQ. I had access to GWU's library, so that was cool. Got a lot of very quiet study time at this library with the added perk of just wandering around DC. Every time DC comes to mind I get sentimental. I really loved living there. I don't remember much about living in NYC, except maybe the springtime, but living in DC I have clear and fond thoughts about.
Following along this year I did a 4-week Emergency Med rotation and thought this was the coolest specialty ever up until I rinsed maggots out of a golf-ball sized wound and manually disimpacted a 90-yo guy. I cannot. I will not. Never again. So that ruled out ER med for me pretty quickly. Luckily Psych has always been the plan.
Fit in a 4-week Urology rotation as well. There I go again with the DREs. Can't help myself but get wrapped up in these types of rotations. Urology was cool, the preceptor was chill. I may have been less engaged in surgery as I should've been, but I liked all of the outpatient stuff. You know pretty quickly whether surgery is/isn't for you, and I confidently knew it was not for me after my first week of surgery rotation.
Then for the best 8-weeks of this year: dedicated psychiatry time! I was able to do 2 blocks at the UW back-to-back and loved it. I finally had the opportunity to work with like-minded people and talk about psychiatry in a normal way - something that doesn't always happen at home. I really enjoy interviewing psych patients. It is fascinating hearing what people have to say. Now that I know how to intellectualize parts of their language, I am much more patient and comfortable communicating with people. For example, patients with pressured speech (fast talkers), I feel more comfortable chatting with them in a way that makes them feel like they're being heard but also that they can continue talking. It's a skill set I'm slowly becoming more proficient in.
Xmas is almost upon us and I am so happy to be home and celebrating with R. We have our xmas lights on outside, the wreath is up, stockings hung, and tree is decorated and even has a few gifts beneath it! A relaxing and nice holiday season.
Year 4 of med school has consisted of away-rotations/Sub-I's and interviews. I started out this school year by doing a 4-week elective in Washington DC/NoVa and rediscovered my appreciation for living on the East Coast. However, the humidity was killer and I was gross. I did enjoy meeting people from all over the world while visiting this hip city. Hopeful that DC pans out again in the future, but if not, I get it. I studied for Step 2 during this elective which worked out better than expected. I studied in the mornings before work and in the evenings until 10 or 11pm. I loved living in NoVa as I was able to walk < 0.5 miles to the nearest coffee shop/shopping oasis and get relief from the heat. I studied in this boxy-style coffee shop and occupied a seat until my computer battery died.
Just my luck, I was studying for step 2 in a trendy coffee shop during the height of the Pokemon Go craze! Many times during my study sessions, random groups of teens/adults would hover over my table and play Pokemon Go. Apparently squirtle and his friends liked hanging around me.
I took many opportunities to reunite with friends from GTown and old roommate Matt and his wife. I think I went to a BBQ every weekend. DC folks are fond of the BBQ. I had access to GWU's library, so that was cool. Got a lot of very quiet study time at this library with the added perk of just wandering around DC. Every time DC comes to mind I get sentimental. I really loved living there. I don't remember much about living in NYC, except maybe the springtime, but living in DC I have clear and fond thoughts about.
Following along this year I did a 4-week Emergency Med rotation and thought this was the coolest specialty ever up until I rinsed maggots out of a golf-ball sized wound and manually disimpacted a 90-yo guy. I cannot. I will not. Never again. So that ruled out ER med for me pretty quickly. Luckily Psych has always been the plan.
Fit in a 4-week Urology rotation as well. There I go again with the DREs. Can't help myself but get wrapped up in these types of rotations. Urology was cool, the preceptor was chill. I may have been less engaged in surgery as I should've been, but I liked all of the outpatient stuff. You know pretty quickly whether surgery is/isn't for you, and I confidently knew it was not for me after my first week of surgery rotation.
Then for the best 8-weeks of this year: dedicated psychiatry time! I was able to do 2 blocks at the UW back-to-back and loved it. I finally had the opportunity to work with like-minded people and talk about psychiatry in a normal way - something that doesn't always happen at home. I really enjoy interviewing psych patients. It is fascinating hearing what people have to say. Now that I know how to intellectualize parts of their language, I am much more patient and comfortable communicating with people. For example, patients with pressured speech (fast talkers), I feel more comfortable chatting with them in a way that makes them feel like they're being heard but also that they can continue talking. It's a skill set I'm slowly becoming more proficient in.
Xmas is almost upon us and I am so happy to be home and celebrating with R. We have our xmas lights on outside, the wreath is up, stockings hung, and tree is decorated and even has a few gifts beneath it! A relaxing and nice holiday season.
Happy Holidays!
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