becoming a doctor

shota kept asking why i wasn't more excited about going to medical school. i guess it just struck me all at once what it means to be accepted...what it means to be a physician. yes, there're still four long hard years of study and training, plus at least three more of 80 hour workweeks after that. if i make it through all that, THEN i'll be a doctor. but this is the first step. a medical school thinks i'm qualified to practice medicine...on people! of course, while i was applying, i believed i embodied the ideal future doctor: i have the academic record, the personality traits, the passion, and the vision. it's just a little different when an institution validated my belief in myself. crazy. i'm jumping for joy inside, but little butterflies of apprehension are fluttering about the cloud of celebration.

dr. a's seems much more excited than i am. every day she teaches me something new, plans another detail of my future career. so far i've applied LN2 to seborrheic keratoses (harmless, sometimes itchy growths), tied sutures in square knots, and most recently, injected local anesthesia to patients prior to biopsies. i like all the procedural work. it's a nice break from interviewing patients and sensory assessment. i plan on having LN2 and sterile instruments ready in my primary care office just in case someone comes in needing it. but yes, it was awesome getting to DO medicine. i kept thinking, "wow! i'm injecting into someone's body! i can feel their flesh with the end of this needle! this takes SOME trust the patient has in the doctor!" and then it was all done and i went back to being assistant. but what a thrill! i can't wait for more tactile exams with the patient as my medical career progresses.