Summer has officially come and gone. Today was the last day of our orientation week where we tried our hand at intramuscular injections, Foley catheter insertions, phlebotomy, and learned how to use our hospital's Electronic Medical Records system. Though I can't say that I feel like an expert at any of these tasks, at least we got to try these procedures on plastic models or our classmates before we start performing them on patients.

On Monday, I'll be at the hospital bright and early for my first day of Surgical Oncology...I'll learn a little about the pre-, intra-, and post-operative care of cancer patients. During the month I'll also get to take call in the Trauma department. I will miss sleep and regular home-cooked meals and going to the bathroom at my leisure, but I am definitely excited to climb this first mountain of 3rd year! Excited and scared.

So...I PASSED STEP 1 OF THE USMLE!

Though folks outside of medical school may not be able to comprehend the fear induced by this exam (it stems somewhat from the thought-seed that is planted at the beginning of medical school that Step 1 dictates much of your immediate future, ie residency, and also from the demoralizing month of studying and practice testing that takes place prior to the exam). Anyway, I believed deep down (and no wise words from outsiders could shake it) that I had really, truly failed. True, it's an extremely rare event, at least at my medical school. And true, I passed all the practice tests. But the length and arduousness of the thing left me doubting myself.

Let this be a lesson to myself: doubt not. There are many more of these hurdles ahead and let's not waste our time suffering such bouts of stress in the future. Life goes on (obla-di-obla-da)!