Internal Medicine Over
It seems like forever ago that I was in a rotation that was NOT Internal Medicine. IM is, at 12 weeks long, the longest rotation we have in third year. It's not so much the length of each day that wears you [I should say, "me"] down, but more the sheer enormity of all those days, all in a row, all the time caring for patients with CHF and Type 2 Diabetes. But, finally, today we took the exam that heralded the end of IM clerkship. This is kind of a big deal... it covers pretty much everything in medicine, since Internal Medicine is the sort of "gateway" into healthcare. They're the ones who refer you to specialists when they're in over their head because you've got some weird infection from touching rose thorns. (Editor's Note: Quit doing that.) Now that this massively long rotation is just about over, I'm focusing on some relaxation techniques. I have a pretty brutal schedule, with OB/GYN and now Internal Medicine behind me and the ...