Step 2. Residency

• Hello Blog readers! If this were a book, I’d make a section break here now given that I am embarking on the next section of my medical training – my residency. This is the part where I’m given more responsibility because I’m an actual doctor now (so can’t shrug off the things I don’t know by saying I’m just a med student) and yet, am still a bit overwhelmed by it all. I must say, it’s been a busy month. This is what I’ve been up to:

1. Fly to new city & find apt
2. Come home and cram all 4 years of medicine into my brain in preparation for a 7 hour exam
3. Write 7 hour exam and feel miserable about how little I know (always reassuring when you’re finishing a 4 year program feeling like an idiot)
4. Attend Victoria graduation festivities and relish the chance to give a speech on behalf of my class to thank the many many people involved in our fantastic island training AND have a wonderful celebratory dinner with family and special friends
5. Go to Tofino with some classmates and have a fabulous time and much needed rest
6. Return to 4 days of non-stop packing/preparing for a move of my belongings distributed over 3 different locations
7. Reluctantly leave my cute little apt that has served me well over the last 4 years
8. Attend Vancouver graduation festivities and have a great dinner with family
9. Safely drive from BC to Ontario through snow, severe thunderstorms, torrential downpours, floods, and ground fog with highways littered with dead deer
10. Visit with friends old & new and have another lovely break in Muskoka for 3 days
11. Come to new city, do errands, discover that I passed my exam (!) and explore city with my sweetheart before bidding farewell-for-now

• Which pretty much takes you up to now. I’m sorry I’ve been tardy with my blog and with emails for the last couple of months but as you can see, it’s been a little busy.

• Now as I’m getting geared up for residency (which starts with orientation on Monday), I’m feeling eager to start and hesitant all at the same time. I remember in 3^rd year medicine asking one of the first year residents (called PGY1’s which stands for Postgraduate year 1) what did he study now – assuming he’d memorized the textbooks at this point and was just reading journals to keep abreast of new developments. I was actually surprised when he said “No, I’m still just reading textbooks”. Now that I’m in his shoes, I think - How crazy am I? How did I actually think I would know all the content of my 50+ textbooks at this stage in my training? I guess I thought I’d feel super confident and have shed my “imposter syndrome” by now, but no, it hasn’t gone away yet. And I think it might be here to stay. At least for a good long while.

• I’ve used this space to talk about and reflect on my experience of medicine. Regardless of whether you’ve found it interesting, entertaining or just plain dull, I’m grateful for it. It’s given me an outlet to share my thoughts and since I’m writing them for someone else’s eyes, I put a little more polish on it than if it were just for me. Looking at the stats page & the list of IP addresses that visit my little corner of the web does warm my heart and light a bit of a fire under me – so thank you to you for visiting and taking away whatever it is you get from this. And for being patient with me when I repeat the same stories in person that you’ve already read here. :)

• So on to the next “section”… Residency. I hope you’ll keep tuning in from time to time. And maybe, if you really want to delight me, writing a comment or jotting me an email in response to something I’ve written. Until then, be well.