T plus 16 hours, where T equals 13 months
Okay, it's been five months since I've made contact with pretty much anybody. Sorry. I really suck as a correspondent, and I shouldn't even make promises to be better about it, because I know I won't keep them. But I'll certainly try to be better, and it should be somewhat easier now that second year is over. Suffice it to say that it is (finally) over, and I have emerged (relatively) unscathed.
Not that it wasn't absolutely awesome, because it was, but you try getting up at obscenely early hours of the morning and working until the dregs of the day for about 80 hours a week for 13 months. That's not so awesome... and now that I think about it from the other side, kind of insane. But, as we all know, medical school is a form of sublimated psychosis; demented lunatic is somewhat high on my list of back-up careers--along with professional nose, hygienic hobo, and pastry chef.
Remarkably, although I'm neither healthier nor wealthier, I'm certainly wiser. Another year, another 15 pounds, and another $40K into the hole. But! I've gained such intangibles as "sense of self-awareness", "ownership of patients", and "feeling of team membership" (a paraphrase of actual criteria taken from our end-of-the year surveys).
More thoughts later, maybe. For now, I'm enjoying the beach.
Not that it wasn't absolutely awesome, because it was, but you try getting up at obscenely early hours of the morning and working until the dregs of the day for about 80 hours a week for 13 months. That's not so awesome... and now that I think about it from the other side, kind of insane. But, as we all know, medical school is a form of sublimated psychosis; demented lunatic is somewhat high on my list of back-up careers--along with professional nose, hygienic hobo, and pastry chef.
Remarkably, although I'm neither healthier nor wealthier, I'm certainly wiser. Another year, another 15 pounds, and another $40K into the hole. But! I've gained such intangibles as "sense of self-awareness", "ownership of patients", and "feeling of team membership" (a paraphrase of actual criteria taken from our end-of-the year surveys).
More thoughts later, maybe. For now, I'm enjoying the beach.