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I’ve heard a (preposterous) rumor that my classmates and I are officially halfway done with our core M3 clinical rotations. I refuse to believe that this is fact, but figure it’s only fair that I pass the message along; never let it be said that I stood in the way of free speech or whatever.

Halfway there, pffffft. Sure.

I just needed an excuse to use a picture of Bon Jovi. Mission Accomplished.

I just needed an excuse to use a picture of Bon Jovi. Mission Accomplished.

What I can say for certain is that I’m officially done with my psychiatry rotation. I returned to the VA (where I first started out – nostalgia!) for my month of psych. I was overjoyed to discover that I felt a little less, well, dumb to be perfectly honest on this rotation than my previous two. While I’d like to think that this was due to cumulative clinical experience, it’s far more likely that it was due to better background knowledge heading in… which means that my next rotation, surgery, is going to be a hot mess. Yikes.

Getting ahead of myself – back to psych! I particularly enjoyed my time on the inpatient unit, where I felt like I really got to know my patients well and genuinely contributed to their care. I was able to relay more detailed information to the team (because I had the time to dedicate to more thorough conversations), get in touch with family members/other health providers for clarification, and advocate for my patients. Every single attending and resident I worked with was supportive and just generally awesome. The VA cafeteria and I are still not on speaking terms, but we were able to tolerate each other’s presence and remain relatively cordial.

We now find ourselves faced with a strange new critter, something called an “Intersession.” It’s not really a break per se: we have required stuff every day of the coming week except for Friday, and some days are actually quite full. It is most definitely a break from clinical duties at least, and a break from constantly being evaluated. A couple of the activities are meant to be more leisure than anything else. There’s a challenge obstacle course or something and let me tell you – the only thing I enjoy more than physical activity is physical activity outdoors. (Is my sarcasm shining through? I can get sassier if need be.) In typical form, I conveniently have a broken foot (though nearly healed! In regular shoes since yesterday, wahoo!) to parade around so no one can accuse me of wimping out. I’m pro-level when it comes to avoiding athletics.

I'm not sure what's going on here, but it looks treacherous.

I’m not sure what’s going on here, but it looks treacherous.

Following Intersession I will start surgery and I am TERRIFIED. I’ve unfortunately gone right ahead and placed epic pressure on myself in regards to this rotation, hoping for an epiphany one way or another in regards to what I want to pursue as my specialty. Up to this point I’ve at least modestly enjoyed everything and truly disliked nothing so I’m pretty clueless. I’m also deathly afraid of sleeping through my alarm because, as I believe I’ve already established previously, I am the world’s worst waker-upper. My body doesn’t believe it should have to get up before the sun no matter what the circumstances. My brain tries to convince her otherwise, but doesn’t put up much of a fight before, say, noon. It’s bad news bears. Buried underneath all of the anxiety, however, there is still a great sense of excitement. I’ve certainly enjoyed all of my experiences in the OR so far and maybe, just maybe, my surgery rotation will be the best ever. Fingers crossed!