A new year

Time passed. And passed. And passed. And those of you who might have been reading would have noticed there wasn't much new to read. Those of you just starting to read will notice that there's a large gap since my last post. To summarize: I finished my intern year. Barely. I almost gave it up more than once. In fact, just after my last post, within a day or two, I actually picked up the phone to call my program director and tell her I was quitting. But in the end, reason (or perhaps inertia) prevailed, and I stuck around.

So I'm back now, a second-year resident, and things are a little bit better. The differences are subtle, but real. I'm more likely to be be referred to by name, rather than as "the intern." I'm a little bit more a member of the club. And almost overnight I find myself looking at the interns and thinking to myself, "I can't possibly have been that naive or incompetent or just plain _young_ a year ago." But perhaps I was, and probably I still am.