I am sitting here eating an apple at lunch, Halfway through the last day of my last rotation (AHEC - Rural medicine). I don’t think it has quite hit yet that I’m actually DONE - (well in 4 more hours) - I wonder if there is sompthing symbolic in that the last case today will be assisting with a vasectomy. An inteesting ending to medical school don’t you think?
I don’t know that I ever really believed I would get this far - but Damn! here I am!
Off to Bangor (Eastern Maine Medical)in July for Family Practice residency - 3 more years of communter existance - NOT happy about that but such is the tyrany of the Match. Oh well, guess I will survive.
I am actually going tobe a doc! (and the medical world thought they had trouble before) I still don’t feel nearly smart enough and wonder if I ever will.
Good luck to all the others “olde Phartes” of the class of 2005 - and Congrats!!! 
Here I am just finishing my second year and beginning to get antsy about the boards and rotations, while there you are already through with that stage. CONGRATULATIONS!! I know you will be a great physician.
When is your graduation and when can we call you ‘doctor’?
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I am sitting here eating an apple at lunch, Halfway through the last day of my last rotation (AHEC - Rural medicine). I don’t think it has quite hit yet that I’m actually DONE - (well in 4 more hours) - I wonder if there is sompthing symbolic in that the last case today will be assisting with a vasectomy. An inteesting ending to medical school don’t you think?
I don’t know that I ever really believed I would get this far - but Damn! here I am!
Off to Bangor (Eastern Maine Medical)in July for Family Practice residency - 3 more years of communter existance - NOT happy about that but such is the tyrany of the Match. Oh well, guess I will survive.
I am actually going tobe a doc! (and the medical world thought they had trouble before) I still don’t feel nearly smart enough and wonder if I ever will.
Good luck to all the others “olde Phartes” of the class of 2005 - and Congrats!!!
You think it is surreal now…just wait until some starry-eyed med student fresh on rotations starts asking you questions. YOU are the DOCTOR & they think YOU are supposed to know. Little do they know that you were in their shoes only a few months prior. Now THAT is surreal!
CONGRATULATIONS DOC!!!
Hi there,
My surreal moment came yesterday when I deployed a stent across the common carotid artery at its takeoff from the aortic arch. I am standing there looking at the fluoro screen when my attending who is standing next to the screens tells me to get the stent in position and deploy it. I carefully position the stent; lining it up with the aortic arch and deploy it. In that very instant, my attending shouts that he can’t see the stent. I am looking at the stent and it is in perfect position. The fluro-tech enlarges the image and sure enough, the stent position is perfect. I balloon the stent gently and get out of the chest. After that, I clean out the internal carotid and sew down a lovely bovine pericardial patch. The patient has totally open common and internal carotid arteries where they previously had a life-threatening lesions. I nailed the lesion and fixed the problem. The patient was doing extrememly well in the CVICU after the case and thanking me profusely. It was wonderful. I AM a vascular surgeon and I have 20/10 vision! This is why I am a surgeon and few humans will ever get the chance to do what I can do. I am totally thankful to be able to do this job and three years ago, I was a lowly medical student!
Yes, you get into the zone and it is a blast!
Natalie 
OH YEAH! I had a hot [censored]/surreal moment the other night on call - my birthday, as a matter of fact. Called to a code blue (doctor-speak for life threatening emergency) to intubate someone. Got there, the RTs had been unable to restore his oxygen saturations & he was spiraling in rapidly. He was past blue & turning purplish - had been found down by the floor nursing staff.
Anyhow, I came in, took charge of the situation very calmly. I assigned each person a specific role - made certain they were clear on their repsonsibility - and proceeded to take control of the pt’s airway. Even with my ump-teen years of experience in bag ventilating pts, I was unable to get the pt’s sat above mid-80s (normal is ~97% & optimal intubation conditions dictates 100% to give you a time buffer. At 100% sat in an adult, you have 90 to 180 seconds to intubate; however, with sats less than 95%, they almost immediately begin to decompensate. In the mid-80s, the decompensation is immediate & precipitous).
Once I entered the pts mouth, my view of his vocal cords were 100% obscured by blood, emesis and hypopharyngeal structures (epiglottis). I was on the floor & a long way from all of the knowledgeable help you have in the ICU or the OR. The pt was rapidly decompensating, but I was able to keep a clear head, called for my bougie (an intubating assist device) & successfuly placed the ET on the first try.
6 mos ago, I would not have been capable of doing this. Now, I am able to not only utilize my own skils; but I am also capable of directing others on the team to maximize my potential for success. I walked away from the code knowing I have come a long way as a physician, but I still have even further to go before I obtain the level of competence I expect of myself & that my pts deserve.
I still muttered a “HOT DAMN!” to myself as I walked back to my call room. I know why I am becoming an anesthesiologist everytime I manage to pull a rabbit outta my ass!
It’s amazing how far we come in just a few years. My “surreal” experience is nowhere near as exciting as Dave or Natalie’s, but it really hit me the other day when I walked into an exam room, saw a patient, walked out, gave a brief oral presentation to my attending who agreed with my plan, wrote the prescription for his signature, and then returned with him to see the patient. He told the patient I had told him what was going on, and he agreed with me, (the patient’s problem was in clear view so he could see the lesion too), we chatted with the patient briefly, and then I moved on to another patient. And it hit me–I’m really turning into a doctor! I can diagnose and treat a great many things. It just seems as though everything is coming together. Of course I still have a great deal to learn (and always will), and the things I’m treating are very simple, but… wow! I’ll be a doctor in a year, and I actually think I might be able to do this job well, someday.
Medicine has really become enjoyable again. I know I have a tremendous amount of work ahead of me, but dang it, I’m having fun!
Deb
Natalie,
In one word, “Congrats!” I can only imagine what an amazing feeling that must have been.
Larry
Graduation is June 4 — when can you call me Doc? after then I guess… but one of the things about being very non-traditional is people say I looked the part from the day I walking in. I sorta look the part more than siome of my preceptors. after all that you would think I would be used to it, but it still sounds really strange.
Steve, one of the amazing things as I look back on intern year is that I’m now so used to hearing, "Doctor Renard, can you… " "Doctor Renard, did you see this lab result… " "Doctor Renard, sorry to wake you but… " that when I go to the grocery store and hear “Thanks for coming, Mrs. Renard,” THAT sounds weird. I also have to stop myself from signing credit card receipts and checks adding “MD” at the end of my name, simply because I sign my name so many times a day at work.
Your first month of internship breaks you into the reality of being called “Doctor” pretty quick. At first it’s a thrill, then you realize it’s just the first word in a sentence that is going to expect YOU to do something! ENJOY those few weeks where you’re “Doctor” without strings, and congratulations Dr. OldePharte!
Mary
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Graduation is June 4
Dude! Me too! I’ll join the ranks of freshly minted MDs in less than 12 hours.
Congratulations and have fun tomorrow.
Take care,
Jeff <- Off to Scott & White Hospital/Texas A&M HSC in Temple, TX for emergency medicine