It's July 1

Today is (was ...) July 1. This day really isn't significant to anyone outside the world of medicine, or, for that matter, outside of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. But to those of us here, it's a day of fear, dread, transition, and ... a whole lot of awkwardness.

Today was the day the new interns started ... and I'm not talking about the interns who copy your papers or fill your coffee mug. I'm talking about the newly minted doctors, fresh out of medical school by five - six weeks, whose starched white --- LONG --- coats have yet to be marred by all manner of foods and fluids. One of the new interns on my team showed me a "motivational" cartoon she had received as an e-mail forward ... it read, "Intern Day: Don't Come to the Hospital in July." Soon enough, this person will be me frantically trying to figure out how to page, call the lab, teach medical students, and write a discharge summary all at the same time, wondering what on earth I signed myself up to do. I look forward to it with mixed anticipation; most everyone survives, and I hope I will, too.

This week also contained the start date for the new M3s and for me as a M4. I am assigned to the epilepsy/headache team right now on neurology, and I am the only M4 in my small group. As they started developing their presentation styles and getting used to the flow of the hospital the past day or so, I realized how much I have been exposed to over the past year, and dare I say it --- how much I DO remember/know --- !!!