I am entering my fourth week of my internal medicine rotation, and it is everything I was promised (and warned) it would be!
It is a beautiful mess of busyness: early mornings, overnight calls, long hours, sneaking in meals, tons of meetings, lots of teamwork, and a teeny tiny bit of time squeezed in for studying and sleeping. I have 3 real days off in the 6 weeks of this rotation, and each one is mostly taken up with sleeping. However, for a person who always thought I couldn't function without sleep, I am quickly realizing, thankfully, that I CAN! A good five hours can have me set for the day, as long as I don't sit too long or stop moving :) By the weekend, when our days are shorter, I absolutely crash when I get home.
The long hours are totally worth it though, because I have had the time on inpatient internal medicine to really get to know my patients. I get to know them as people, to educate them about what is going on with their bodies and why they are still in the hospital, to comfort them when they are anxious about their conditions or their support systems or they just want to go home, and to know that I am part of a team that is really helping these people. It is a blessing to see sick people become well, to see patients with chronic illnesses learn the best ways to cope with their lifelong experience of a particular disease, and when necessary, to help patients deal with leaving this life behind. Everyday, I am reminded of the great gift of serving people in this very intimate and often scary time of their lives, and I am so thankful for the honor of taking care of them.
During all of the emotional and temporal madness of this rotation, I have also realized again how amazing my husband is. From leaving flowers on the dinner table when I get home from a long day of work to cleaning up the house without even being asked, he is definitely a keeper. I am so thankful for Mikey's patience with my crazy hours and with my sleep-deprived, emotional ramblings when I am home. He is such a wonderful husband and best friend!
Basically, life is good. I am blessed. And I will post another update as time permits!
It is a beautiful mess of busyness: early mornings, overnight calls, long hours, sneaking in meals, tons of meetings, lots of teamwork, and a teeny tiny bit of time squeezed in for studying and sleeping. I have 3 real days off in the 6 weeks of this rotation, and each one is mostly taken up with sleeping. However, for a person who always thought I couldn't function without sleep, I am quickly realizing, thankfully, that I CAN! A good five hours can have me set for the day, as long as I don't sit too long or stop moving :) By the weekend, when our days are shorter, I absolutely crash when I get home.
The long hours are totally worth it though, because I have had the time on inpatient internal medicine to really get to know my patients. I get to know them as people, to educate them about what is going on with their bodies and why they are still in the hospital, to comfort them when they are anxious about their conditions or their support systems or they just want to go home, and to know that I am part of a team that is really helping these people. It is a blessing to see sick people become well, to see patients with chronic illnesses learn the best ways to cope with their lifelong experience of a particular disease, and when necessary, to help patients deal with leaving this life behind. Everyday, I am reminded of the great gift of serving people in this very intimate and often scary time of their lives, and I am so thankful for the honor of taking care of them.
During all of the emotional and temporal madness of this rotation, I have also realized again how amazing my husband is. From leaving flowers on the dinner table when I get home from a long day of work to cleaning up the house without even being asked, he is definitely a keeper. I am so thankful for Mikey's patience with my crazy hours and with my sleep-deprived, emotional ramblings when I am home. He is such a wonderful husband and best friend!
Basically, life is good. I am blessed. And I will post another update as time permits!
