i had an easy day yesterday, with primary care clinic in the morning and a lecture/discussion session on professionalism in the afternoon. during electives, every so often (as in 1-2x/month), groups of us are pulled from clinical responsibilities and brought into a classroom for some more traditional learnin’. these sessions are usually pretty interesting and useful, but the best part for me is the nice break from real ‘work’. it’s funny — back in the early years of medical school, getting to actually DO something (rather than sitting on our butts frantically note-taking) was the refreshing part, and now it’s sort of the opposite. i am definitely not saying that i hate my clinical duties — i really like seeing patients, both inpatient and out, although i do prefer non-intubated ones. but sometimes a little variety helps.
it’s nice being on an elective.
i like working out before work. i like sleeping in my bed every night. i like the flow of outpatient clinic. i like having time to cook, read, and keep up with desperate housewives. i even like having some time to study at the end of the day! these blocks give me a tantalizing taste of what i hope to achieve someday as my career progresses: a job that is satisfying and engaging while i am there, but that allows me time and energy for other things, too. i think that as a happier person, i will probably be a much better doctor to my patients, anyway.
last night i celebrated my freedom (i left work at 4:45!) by studying for a bit, having leftovers for dinner, and then curling up in bed with the aforementioned desperate housewives along with some milk ‘n’ cookies (fine, they were annie’s bunny graham friends). josh was on call so i took advantage of the situation and slept for a wonderful 8.5 hours, passing out at 8:30 pm.
i will have to remember all of this when i am prerounding in the NICU at 6 AM next month. it will certainly be a stark contrast.
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10.15.08
workout: 6 miles super-slow and easy outside in the dark AM, gabbing with my favorite running partner s. the whole way
reading: 50 minutes studying surgery & surgical subspecialties. who knew that all of ‘general surgery’ could fit on 5 pages?
cooking: leftovers only!
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