Hiatus (mostly) over

What, without asking, hither hurried whence?
And, without asking, whither hurried hence!

Orientation is finished. I'm not sure how these things work at other hospitals, but it seemed to me that my orientation consisted of a solid two hours of information crammed into two weeks of lecture. The obligatory instructional lectures on our computerized records system, kindly lectures about the importance of sleep, etc. And then the barbecues, dinners, lunches with residency directors, fellowship directors, directors of directors...I can say with certainty that I'm thoroughly oriented.

Which isn't to say I don't feel more than a little nervous. One of our lectures was on the importance of teaching the medical students rotating with us, and I got to thinking, given the slacker attitude of my fourth year, I'm really only about 6 months ahead of the fourth years students in learning, maybe 3 if you count the extensive attrition of knowledge that remains unused for an extensive period of time. I want to go into cardiology (I think) and my EKG reading skills are still not the greatest. The words "electrolyte management" still bring a cold sweat to my forehead.

I am pleased with my intern classmates though. Generally they seem a pretty sharp bunch, which will be important as we watch each other's backs through this next year.

One thing is certain though, my uneasiness will be rapidly dispelled. My first two months are the hardest rotations of intern year so I should be well on my way to at least an intern's level of confidence by the end of that time. At least, I'll find out, starting at 7am tomorrow morning.