And now...fourth year officially begins!

I'm done with my ICU rotation. It was a great experience, but I am very...very ready to start enjoying my fourth year. From now on, I no longer work weekends and have normal 9-5 hours. I'm sure it is strange to most normal people that we medical students get giddy over a 40 hour work week, but that's the sad reality of it. Last time I worked 40 hours a week was before medical school and there have definitely been brief moments in the past four years where I've slapped myself around demanding to know what was so damn wrong with that. Technically, during this time, I should still be studying when I get home, but to be honest, that's pretty unrealistic, at least for the next few weeks or so. It's time to rest, breathe and pretend to be a real person for a few months before the craziness that is residency begins.

The ICU was an interesting place to be. Great learning. Dying people. It felt almost dirty sometimes. Our tragedies came in very sick, often with malignancies that were far advanced, and we maintained them on breathing machines, plugged up to feeding and hydrating tubes, and sedated into unconsciousness until their family members had the time necessary to realize that there was nothing more anyone could do. Our "success" stories, the people who usually made it out of the ICU, to the floor, and finally home, were, I would say, in vast majority, the alcoholics in withdrawal, the over-intoxicated or over-dosed, or those with advanced chronic diseases who were not capable of taking their medications or sticking to diet requirements.

But now, I start on dermatology. Four weeks of looking at people's skin 8 hours a day. Though it does sound remarkably exciting, I do have to say I'm looking forward to finally being able to distinguish one "red rash" from another. And in the meantime, I will have weekends off, with evenings to spend with friends, rock climbing and tuning up those pool playing skills!