Livin on a Prayer

So here it is, half-way through 3rd year. The time has gone by so fast, its scary that at this time next year we'll all be making decisions on where we want to go. I guess it has been 2 months since I've written, so I'll give a little update as to where that time has gone. I managed to survive the end of medicine and moved on to pediatrics. I was looking forward to peds because a, I generally enjoy kids more than adults, and b, we got to spend 1 of our 2 months in outpatient pediatric clinics and the nursery/NICU, so there was a little more variety compared to the 2 months of inpatient, q4 call that we got to enjoy on medicine. My first month was in clinics and the nurseries, both of which I really loved. The clinics that I was at had pretty much every pediatric specialty you could think of under one roof, and we got to pick and choose who we worked with, which was awesome. I really enjoyed the NICU too, we got to go in on all the c-sections, I definitely enjoyed the peds side of that more than the OBGYN side.
My second month was inpatient general pediatrics, which, for all intents and purposes, is a lot like adult inpatient medicine. It was fun, but I don't think general inpatient medine is for me. I hate rounding, and by the end of the month, I felt the same about asthma exacerbations and RSV as I had about chest pain and shortness of breath on medicine. I did get to spend a week in the pediatric ICU, which I loved. I got to learn a lot of cool medicine that we don't really get to see anywhere else.
So now I have finished my 3rd of the "big 4" 8 week rotations (I only have surgery left). I have 2 weeks off now, and then go back for 2 weeks of ER, 2 of radiology (aka radi-holiday) and a month of psych. It will be pretty nice to have a lower stress couple of months to look forward to.
I still can't believe how fast this year is going, although it feels like its been ages since I was a second year and studying for boards. Third year is definitely an experience like no other. Its kind of like starting a new job....every 2-4 weeks. We change rotations every 8 weeks at least, and within those rotations usually change locations, activities, and attending every couple of weeks. On top of that, in most cases you feel like you need to be "on" at every minute, being prepared to present a patient, do an exam, or know the answer to an obscure question. Don't get me wrong, I'm loving 3rd year more than any other year in med school. At the same time, I think we're all constantly feeling a sense of instability, there's not really time to get to feel as if you've gotten a grasp on something before its time to move on to something else. To add to that, its also getting closer to time for us to make decisions about what we want to be when we grow up. I know within my group of friends, people are starting to make serious decisions about what to specialize in and where they want to go. I feel like everyone has some underlying tension in worrying about what the next year and a half holds, and knowing that, after this year of new beginnings, we're all going to have to start over again somewhere else., without the families that we have forged here. Its scary and exciting at the same time. Stay tuned.