A week in the hospital

Well, not as a patient, but as a first year med student... and what an experience! I've spent time in hospitals before, as a volunteer, a research assistant, a shadower, or a visitor, but never as part of a healthcare team. It was really fun. I was assigned to Internal Medicine, and I think I can say that I'd rather specialize in something else. One resident I was talking with went on and on about how he loved internal medicine, because it was all about the physiology and biochemistry of the body, and how it's like a little mystery to solve with every patient that comes in. So I'm sitting there, thinking to myself: "I have been fighting an epic battle with my nemesis ever since school started, and its name is BIOCHEMISTRY, and it uses PHYSIOLOGY as its auxiliary artillery." I'm all about solving the mystery, but I think some other methods would be a more natural fit for me. Really nice people, though, especially one intern named Dr Armstrong, who took time out to make sure I was involved in everything. Only one exception: one of the attendings, who was from New York (and whose brother-in-law, incidently, is a writer for Scrubs, and she's always trying to pawn off her script ideas on him), and was a t-shirt wearing member of the Hierarchy of Medicine club - meaning, I dropped off her radar as soon as my resident introduced us, and she interrupted me before I had even finished my name. Ah well. I hear that's more of a regional thing: programs back east and in the midwest seem to instil the hierarchy into people, while the mountian states and, to a degree, the west coast, seem to opt for a more collegial paradigm. I know medicine doesn't interest all of you as much as it does me, but one more story - wait, I don't think I can tell you. Thanks a lot, HIPAA. People have gotten fired for posting stuff online about work. So, anyways, if I ever see you in person, maybe I can tell you then.