I have officially survived my first week of residency. Mom has left, but she did drop me off on my first day, just like elementary school. It was such a weird feeling to start. Things were so crazy with the move there was hardly anytime to think.
The night before residency started, Sief and I both expressed the sentiment, "I hope we're happy here." Hershey wasn't our favorite place, but we had some good times there and I made some great friends.
It is such an odd feeling to know that tomorrow is the first day. It's the beginning of what will be the hardest year of our life, we are about to meet our co-workers, who we will spend more time with than each other and our families. The people who will see us at our worst and the people we will spend the next 3 years of our lives with. That's a pretty big commitment. It is a lot like the first day of school. I hope I make the right first impression, I hope I get along with them, etc. It is not like I haven't done this before, I've done it many times throughout my life, but it never is a comfortable feeling.
Laying there the night before, knowing Sief was in the same boat and by my side made it that much easier. We both know we are taking a chance, because both of our residency programs are brand new. That means we are the first class of residents - there is no one above us. I didn't meet anyone from this program "to fit in with." That's what they tell you - when you are on the interview trail, look for a place where you can see yourself fitting in with the residents, because they will become your family. This program doesn't have that. We're the pioneers - we are the ones that will make or break this residency program. I'm hanging my hat that my program director can make good on all the things he wants this residency to offer - urban and rural sites, university & community hospital, an extremely diverse patient population, the opportunity for procedures and hopefully the ability to do c-sections. The list goes on.
So....week one down - all orientation, just a lot of listening to people talk at us, computer training, etc - nothing exciting. Does the program live up to what I thought it would so far? YES! My co-residents are great. We are an extremely diverse group of people, but everyone is very laid back and extremely nice. Sief's co-residents are just as great. Will we all best friends? No probably not, but at least I get along with everyone right now and can see myself working with them and learning from them over the next 3 years. There's an excitement in the air here. We have had combined orientation on many of the days this week and the new programs have a different vibe. There is an energy that runs through us as a group that doesn't exist in the other programs. Maybe it's because I'm biased, or maybe because we are the first residents. We know we are the ones to make this program into what we want it to be - to form the culture and the traditions that will live on in the years to come - it's up to us. The faculty is here to listen and they are here to help us have the most amazing experience that we can.
I'm excited and also scared. I know the long hours will wear on me. I know it will be extremely difficult when I am on other services and not with my family medicine co-residents, but I also know that there are a ton of resources out there for me to reach out to if needed. So here's to new beginnings and here's to hopefully one of the best and pretty definitely one of the toughest years of my life.
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