Last day of third year rotations!!!!

welp....thats it. 75%  over. 3/4 done. 3 down, 1 to go.... There are many ways I can say it over in my head but it doesnt matter, I still cant wrap my head around it. I have to start realizing that in less than 1 year, I will become a physician. I will be responsible for my actions. I will be responsible for lives [with a safety net of senior residents and attendings of course.]

This year was very difficult. As always, it was more difficult than the previous one. I assume next year will be more difficult than this year but I hope this is not true. 

I am excited to do rotations in emergency medicine and begin learning the skills I will use for the rest of my career. I am excited to focus on the field I know I will love. I am excited to move around the country and change up the day-to-day scenery. I am even more excited to begin applying for residency and becoming closer to settling in a new job. I am even MORE excited to finally start getting a paycheck....but, note to self, that wont be for another year.

to sum up, my core rotations are done. I have done all my pre-requisites. I helped deliver babies, did well child exams, rectal exams, cut people open, listening to schizophrenics tell me they were god, diagnosed people with fatal diseases, cried, laughed, loved, hated, become overwhelmed, gained confidence, lost that confidence, then gained it back [and repeated that cycle over and over again]. I learned how to practice medicine, how to answer tough questions from an attending without looking scared, how to speak to a patient without sounding like a kid, how to gain someone's trust, how to get over awkward moments like that time i was doing a lower extremity neuro general sensation test and the old man told me to keep going up...I have done a lot. and i am happy to say, I am proud of myself and my classmates for doing it. For learning it all, and staying sane. We have sacrificed a lot to get this far.

So thats it, this chapter is done and the next and final one of medical school is beginning. Bring it on 4th year!