officially half way done with 3rd year!

its ova!!!!
Last day came and went. it was actually a pretty good day. My last patient was a new patient to the clinic so i went through an extensive H&P on him, lets call him Matt. He was a 66yo guy who had tinnitus [ear ringing] that he couldn't get rid of. It started 6 months ago after dental work and it is driving him crazy. He was there with his wife and they were a pretty cool couple. They got married 10 years ago and she helped turn his life around. Matt grew up in Brooklyn and just like anyone from Brooklyn, he was sarcastic, witty and very funny. We talked about his childhood and his youth. He has lived all around the states, Chicago and Hollywood being his favorites. He used to work for nightclubs in LA and with that, did a lot of drugs. He had some good stories and some really tragic ones. Overall, he didnt regret a thing and i envy his life. He went through a lot of lows and highs but his life experiences can never be taken away and now, he is a happy, healthy and active person. It makes me laugh at how opposite we have lived out our 20s. I dont envy all the drugs and stupid situations he got into, but i do envy his unattached freedom. It would be nice to give up expectations for a moment and just live life instead of worrying about the future. Though in a sense i do have unattached freedom because i am a single adult with no family to tie me down, i have a lot of responsibilities, expectations to meet, and debt to pay off.

another highlight of our last day was when a patient came in just to show me her dog. this lady had been in 3 times throughout this month and i saw her each time. She got hurt badly when her dog [a 70 pound golden-doodle puppy] pulled her in her back yard and she hit her head and arm. She loved this dog and talked about him all the time. I wanted to see pictures of him and on her last visit she forgot so she said she would bring him in at lunch one day. Well, on our last day the dog walked her into the front door and we played with him for a bit. it was really fun.

At the end of the day, the doctor pulled everyone aside individually and went over our evaluations. She was really nice and gave me some compliments and constructive criticism. It all ended with, "you are going to be an excellent, compassionate physician."

that felt good to hear.