The journey towards physicianhood can be arduous, painful, and thankless (8.50 per hour!). Nothing is sweeter than breaking through to the "other side", and removing the "resident" label which now entitles me to a little more freedom, respect, and reasonable monetary compensation. At the same time, nothing is more frightening than removing the "safety net" we residents refer to as "the attending". No more drawn out inpatient rounds, required lecture attendance, gathering data at o'dark thirty in the morning, or "guess what I'm thinking" medical trivia...I am on my own!
This past week marked my first week on the Inpatient Medicine Service which equated to heart failure, GI bleeding, pancreatitis, stroke, heart attacks, cancer (all bad things)...all managed by a team of 1 (also a bad thing). The week was inaugurated by a call night of laboring OB patients and crashing heart failure lady. Also, crashing heart failure lady didn't seem to care if I was post-call either. The week seems like a blur to me. Was it scary...yes. Did I kill anyone...no! Can't wait to do it again!?!
