beginning a new chapter of my life: goodbye medschool, hello foundation years

Just a mere four years ago, I was preparing for a new degree: Medicine. I still remember my first day at medical school like it was yesterday; from the moment I woke up to the moment my head hit the pillow later that night. And now, I've somehow made it and become a doctor. How time flies? It's scary, yet exhilarating. Nerve-wracking, yet filled with excitement.

Throughout my first two and a half years at medical school, I never thought I'd ever feel ready to be a doctor. Now, with every signature comes responsibility; with every action I do, there has to be justification and with every patient who I care for as part of a team, they'll always remember me as their doctor even if I don't remember them as easily. This is scary. But by the time my penultimate year was halfway through, I began to feel less apprehensive and more appreciative of what a privilege it is to be in this profession. And by the time I came to do my assistantship placements in final year, I felt ready. Even if this is a pretty dark time to start work for the National Health Service (NHS) here in the UK and I touched upon it back in January 2016 here...

A little part of me is sad to no longer be able to say 'I'm only a student' but considering I'm now 26 years old, it's about time I grew up! Over the last four years, boy, have I done a lot of growing. My views on the world have changed considerably, my outlook in life is very different (much more optimistic and less apprehensive of new opportunities) and my self-confidence has increased (though that part of me still has a bit of growing left to do).

These next two years will also fly by; a lot of my seniors reassure (or scare?) me about this. And with them, I intend to grab every opportunity that comes my way; just like I did at medical school. 

For me, I learnt these five things over the last four years that will stay with me forever:

1. Grab every opportunity that comes your way. You may never get that chance again.

2. Say yes to everything (within reason). As a student, if I was asked to insert a cannula/catheter, etc, I never once said no. 

3. Remember to rest. I'm a workaholic by nature and need to feel productive. But I've learned to rein this in from time to time. 

4. You'll never know everything and that's ok... As long as you can admit this and still possess the desire to want to learn more and question everything. 

5. Even in the worst of times, it will be better soon. 

Life is undoubtedly going to get a lot busier for me but I still intend to keep this blog going :)

Above: some Instax films taken when I did a day as a tourist in London; post-finals, pre-foundation programme!