Off to a good start.

Twenty patients seen in seven hours. No one yelled at me. One patient went out of her way to tell me she thinks I'm going to make a great doctor. All patients received excellent care tailored to their biology, situation, and personal preferences. I declare today a victory.

Before my non-med school friends convert to Christian Science for fear of having an underling first-year medical student managing their care the next time they need open heart surgery, let me clarify what I mean when I "see" a patient. I am not pretending to be a doctor in any way. I am not dispensing medical advice that someone might have once said could possibly be true in PBL (psmall bgroup learning) because they once read it on Wikipedia. I am either taking a pre-history (a preliminary history, not one where I record events in cave drawings) or observing as the MD or DO to whom I am assigned does something actually useful, like dispensing medical wisdom about tummy aches or making visual and cytologic confirmation of a vaginal yeast infection. I often nod in sage agreement with the doctor as he or she says something insightful, like "I can write you all the prescriptions in the world for your heart problems, but they're not going to do anything unless you take the meds regularly." So true, doc; so true. I feel it.

The pace will undoubtedly get a little more grueling. I undoubtedly will get more mercilessly pimped. But for today, I think I put a good foot forward and appeared convincingly competent given my level of formal training. I should enjoy this feeling while it lasts.