It's been the longest and the quickest 3 years of my life. Today was the culmination of many many years of hard work, dedication, tears, exhaustion, determination and dedication. I went to the hospital for the final time as a resident and turned in my pager and said farewell. I am now officially finished with my residency and I am now a practicing licensed pediatrician.
I have formed many memories over the past 3 years. Many wonderful or exciting, some heart-wrenching, and a few devastating. All will shape me as I move on in the future. People ask me often, if I had to do it over again would I? The answer....NO....who would do residency all over again???? CRAZINESS!!!!. Don't get me wrong. I love what I do and I am so excited about moving on with my career but residency took its toll on me especially over the past year. I'm not sure anyone deserves to live the life of a residency. And maybe overtime I'll forget some of the awfulness. The better question is do I regret my decision to leave my teaching career and become a Dr. The answer: absolutely not.
So what now? VACATION!!!!!! For a MONTH!!!! Then off to my new job as a private practice pediatrician in a rural community. I'm excited and scared all at the same time. I will miss my patients from my residency clinic terribly and I had many tears over the last month as I handpicked new residents for them to see. I know they will be in good hands. And maybe someday, I will work there again.
