I seriously can't even handle the fact that tomorrow is January 1^st. Where on earth has the time gone?!? My classmates and I are already halfway through our first year of medical school and I still haven't completely accepted the fact that I'm even in medical school, let alone that I've actually started classes. (What can I say, I'm a little slow on the uptake.)

It's been both refreshing and eye-opening to take a step back and get away from school for a while. In the grand scheme of things, we're just babies on the timeline of becoming People Who Know What They're Doing. All the same, I've been shocked time and time again over the holidays at just how much I've already learned. I'm able to chime in at the most random times with bits of wisdom I've picked up in my months at Michigan. On the way home from the airport, my mother and I had a rousing conversation about the mechanism of action of her osteoporosis medication. (In our defense, it was nearly 2 AM. We can't be held responsible for the cool factor of our conversations at such an hour.) I schooled the fam on why suddenly stopping beta blockers is an epic no-no. (This one was actually relevant to discussion and not initially brought up by me, I swear.) There's obviously oodles and oodles of stuff about which I'm completely clueless, but I've accomplished far more already than I realized.

We've tackled three big chunks of the full physical exam: cardiovascular, respiratory, and musculoskeletal. Several wonderful people gave up their time to allow us to learn from their medical maladies and experience 'abnormal findings' firsthand. We've practiced taking patient histories (spoiler: I'm still super awkward at it) and learned the absolute must-ask questions for a variety of conditions. I've shadowed a number of awesome and generous doctors who welcomed me with open arms and gave me the opportunity to see some incredible things. On top of all that is the obvious: we've learned. We've learned an insane amount of things and we're just getting started. Holy moly.

I can't wait to see what 2015 has in store. If it's anything like 2014, it's going to be BOSS.