The events from the past weekend still haven't set in yet. I don't know if it is because I don't have to move to a different city (or state) like so many of my colleagues. I don't know if it is because I have already been to the hospital where I am now employed so many times that it doesn't feel all new. I don't know if it is because I haven't really been at school much at all the past two years because I have been away doing rotations. The two years we lived in Pennsylvania and I was doing heavy studying seems like a long, long time ago. I don't know what it is, but the fact that I just graduated medical school really has not set in yet.
To me, when I report to my new job in a few weeks I will be in the same city I've been in for the past two years, at the same hospital, working with the same people I've been working with. Not much will have changed. The only thing that changes is that I have slightly more responsibility now. I have two letters behind my name and that allows me to write instructions on a piece of paper and people will follow them. I am now second lowest on the totem pole instead of lowest. This is, of course, a little scary because I am not any smarter now than I was two weeks ago, or two months ago for that matter. This means I still have to study and I still have to read because now choices I make actually have the ability to affect people and I want to make sure I am doing the right thing. I guess the other thing that is changing is that for the first time since 2005 I will have an income.
Yes, some things are finished. I no longer have to report to people in Pennsylvania. I escaped that odd entity relatively unharmed. It will be nice not having to drive there occasionally as it is quite out of the way. I do have a degree now to prove my accomplishment. I no longer have to pay tuition. Although I do have to pay student loans. Truthfully, I would rather pay tuition because that money doesn't come straight out of my bank account like repaying the loans does. I also still have tests, so it isn't like that aspect is finished either (and as long as I am board certified, I will have tests for the rest of my career).
So yes, my medical school education is over but my medical education is really just beginning. I say goodbye to Pennsylvania and hello to residency which I am sure will challenge me, especially in my first year. I have the doctor title now, the extra responsibility, more benefits at work (including an income), and student loans to payback. That is all that has changed. Everything else is exactly the same, and in some ways that is a good thing.
On a side note, I would like to thank Sarah, my parents, and all of my friends and family for all of their support throughout my schooling. It would have been impossible to graduate without their help.
Have they taught you how to drill a hole in a nail to releive the blood pooling yet?
ReplyDeleteTip 'o the cap to you, sir. That's an incredible accomplishment, the likes of which so few people ever achieve.
ReplyDeleteYou're right though. In a way, your education is just beginning. Doc P is pushing 60 years old, and he still continues his education on a regular basis. It's a field that will evolve virtually every day you are a part of it.
I wish you all the best. I'm sure I can speak for all your friends and family when I say how proud we are of you.
To Joseph: I have never actually seen anyone use a drill during this situation. The times I have seen it done they have used some kind of electrocautery device.
ReplyDeleteTo BoilerPip: Thank you sir. And thanks for paying at theme night the other day. It was kind of a mediocre theme night. Not the worst that I have seen, but not in the Cupid Day or Nurses category. But it was a good time nonetheless.