addendum

i have to set the record straight, because my last post may have been somewhat misleading. I LOVE PEDIATRICS. in fact, i’m definitely going to do it. for real this time. like for real for real. i love the patients, i actually even love most of the parents (this includes the paranoid ones, though not the deadbeat ones). the combination of human interaction and analytical problem solving is fantastic, and i have never worked 13 hour days that seemed so short.

HOWEVER: i freaking hate overnight call. i actually don’t mind the call itself; the quiet of the floors at night when everyone has left is sort of nice, and i don’t mind working at night, but i hate hate HATE the physiological effects: everything hurts, from my brain to my stomach to my dry eyes to my feet to my throat. and my brain is mush in the morning, and it feels like trying to work underwater or something. plus: 31.5 straight hours is just TOO MUCH OF ANYTHING. i can’t name one thing that would be fun to do for 31.5 hours straight, except sleep (and that’s only my deprived brain talking). seriously. can you?

anyway: i am still going to do a residency because all of this is quite temporary (3 years, thank god — i don’t think there is much call in the endocrinology fellowship) and i am probably not going to be lucky enough to find one that is mostly night float without call. but i will look.

in other news: it is the best feeling when a 7 year old kid with new-onset hypertension and out-of-control lymphadenopathy who everyone thinks has lymphoma (or neuroblastoma or pheochromocytoma) ends up having mono and renal artery stenosis. his throat finally started hurting ON THE DAY OF DISCHARGE.