to do as much nothing as possible...indigo, md

No one gets up one day and says, “I want to be an anesthesiologist when I grow up.” I wanted to be a ballerina, or a bookstore-café owner, or an artist of some kind – someone who was required to play close attention to the world, take real notice of it, and take creative and compassionate action. But I am neither a ballerina nor a bookseller. I am an anesthesiologist. Frequently people ask me a version of “What on earth made you choose that?” I try to explain that I love the way anatomy and physiology come alive moment-to-moment in daily practice. Or I try the concrete approach and admit that I actually enjoy placing intravenous lines and breathing tubes. The response I get is usually a glassy-eyed “Uh-huh” or, occasionally, a nose-wrinkling “Eew.” If the conversation progresses beyond “eew,” the more people talk to me about what they think I do – that is, if they think I actually do anything in the first place – the more bewildered I get over how difficult it is to convey to others an...

Took the first half of step 3 today and the other half tomorrow. It is a terribly long day to take one full day of testing....but two.....not only is it long and dreadful but then you have to wait overnight to take the rest of the test. Finally you get the joy of waiting like four to six weeks until you get your test results. At Prometric it is interesting b/c there are people there taking all types of tests----real estate, etc. I probably cannot even begin to guess all the tests they offer. Yet we seem to be the only ones who take a day-long test....let along a two-day test. Oh the good times to be had.

we spend years of our life investing in education and working towards the next step....volunteer to get ready to apply for med school, mcat, stay active in med school, do well to get into a good residency, work for the fellowship, and on and on....it is always forward thinking. i suppose most professionals think in this manner but it is an interesting phenomenon because it changes how you view life and the world in general.

"The 80 hour work week is twice that of the normal human being....but then again, if you are a marine don't bitch about getting shot at, and if you are a priest don't complain about not having lady friends---- we all knew what we were getting into when we applied to medical school.....we need to be trained to be competent, that shouldn't happen as an attending, it should happen as an intern "--I love it!

Now I know there are no perfect plans out there...different countries have different modes of universal coverage...but I also know...as many others do as well...that our system in the US doesn't work. So what is the answer? More to come.

From me to all my friends and family--- Have a wonderful day and celebrate just being "YOU" on this day with so many other things on the table.

Now that I have completed more days than I have left in my internship I must say something. I am feeling like a doctor. But don't know what that means just yet. Just finished my second month of ICU and start back on wards tomorrow with call.