The Brains Have Turned to Mush

The last post I made about St. Louis actually took place before the California post, so that is why everything is weird and out of order.

I feel this strange obligation to tell the world that, as a fourth year student, I feel like I know absolutely nothing. Seriously. Like three years of hard work has led up to my brain becoming emptied of all things useful and essential in three months of non-use. If I stayed at home all the time, I would never make the effort to learn. I have figured out this essential fact about myself after 3 months of vacation... I can't remember the last time I've been "off" this long.

This is why I am so excited about being a physician. And, hopefully, staying in academic medicine with a focus on educating and training the next generation. I want to always be learning. I feel sharper and more alive when I am actively learning and exercising that knowledge.

Recently, by the way, critical care has become more and more appealing. I've had some time to think about what kind of doctor I want to be, and I would like to be the kind of saves lives. But then again, it's a pretty stressful work environment, so only time can tell...

And in other exciting news, Match Day is in the middle March and coming up fast. I will definitely be posting when I find out where we will be for the next three years. For those of you who don't know, Match Day is this crazy day when all the fourth year medical students get to open envelopes that tell them where they will be working :). It's like this whole ceremony and everything, and Andrew and Mimi will be there with me. I can't wait. I am literally having palpitations as I write this. Amazing that we med students go through all this trouble and heartbreak only to not *really* get to pick where we train at the end of four years.