As I mentioned, I’m back on neurology (4 more months!), where I’m on call overnight in the neurointensive care unit and it’s just been one little irritating thing after another. The patient sign-out was, as always, ridiculous. These are the sickest patients in the hospital, but you wouldn’t think so given the 1 liner that I had on each of them. And of course the two fellows were rolling their eyes when I was asking for more details. There is certainly no remorse with the decision to go elsewhere for fellowship tonight.

What’s truly annoying me is the fact that because the schedule was only finalized yesterday, my clinic schedule didn’t get cancelled tomorrow. I took today off work and took a nap, but tomorrow, instead of enjoying a long day off slumbering, I get to go to clinic. On my schedule is a patient who wants disability forms filled out, another who is questioning why they hasn’t recovered from their illness they just started treatment for today (yes, today), and another who I just saw last week. I’m already tired and cranky.

In order to distract me from the winter gloom, I’m trying to honor Women’s History Month on my facebook by featuring an awesome woman from history a day. Yesterday was Clara Barton, today is nobody, since I can’t access Facebook from work. Who would you want me to highlight? I’ve got a dozen, but I need more, so send me your ideas.

And now, off to try to get a little bit of fractured sleep.

I have unofficially finished the internal medicine portion of residency. Officially, I still have clinics on Thursday afternoon and graduation isn’t until June, but I am done with medicine wards. It seems like I’ve been doing this forever; residency has certain dragged on and seemed endless at times, and yet, these last few months have slipped past so quickly that I’ve hardly registered their presence. Suddenly I’ve four months away from graduation. Four months!

I’m starting to get overwhelmed with the amount of stuff that I need to complete before July. The house situation: moving, fixing, sell vs rent, property management vs realtor, etc, etc. The paperwork for the new hospital. Getting a doctor’s appointment so they can confirm that yes, I’m up to date on my immunizations. Finding a new place to live. Can I afford to fly out there and scope it out? Evaluations to complete. Need new glasses and a dentist appointment. And did somebody say that my Boards are less than 6 months away? I should be studying every second that I am awake! Maybe I should go to bed listening to lectures… Right now, it’s all I can do to not bury my head under the pillows like an ostrich – I’m in avoidance mode, as I often get when I feel overwhelmed and despondent.