Island Med Student

Thursday I had a clinical skills exam. Basically, I had to do a head to toe physical exam in less than 45 minutes while two doctors watched and evaluated me. We had to do almost every exam possible (each cranial nerve, cardio, respiratory, etc.), so I was super nervous. But I practiced a bunch (thank you Micah!), so I felt pretty prepared.

At the end of the exam, I heard one of the best comments that I think I’ve received since beginning med school. One of the physicians (who happens to be one that I respect very much and think is amazing) said that before he went through the grading process, he wanted to let me know one thing. He said, “I can tell by watching you that you are going to make an exceptional physican some day. You care about your patient and it shows. You enjoy what you’re doing and it shows. You’re paying attention to the details and it shows.”

I couldn’t have asked for a better compliment. Med students are so very low on the totem pole. We work our butts off for years only to get yelled at by our attendings, residents, and even patients. But on Thursday, I felt like my almost 2 years of hard work had finally paid off. And I earned the respect of a respected physician. It makes all the hard work seem worthwhile.

Note: The pic has nothing much to do with the post. I just happened to find it when going through some random shots. It’s another one in the “pictures of my hair with flowers taken with a cell phone” series.

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