Hello hello hello!  Back in the saddle, and not 4 months after my last post--pretty proud of myself.  Hope everyone is enjoying the new Blog format--I know that I definitely am. Welcome to Fall as well! It seems like it was 90s last week, and over the weekend the air changed, leaves started falling, and I've gotta wear sweatshirts and jeans.  I'm OK with it though--fall is definitely my favorite season of the year (just slightly ahead of summer and winter), so I'm happy with the cooler weather.

I just finished up my Psychiatry rotation approximately an hour ago--feels good to be done with that!  Psych was a really awesome clerkship--I have always found personality disorders really interesting, and other selected parts of psych, but to be honest, I had a pretty poor understanding of mental illness.  I knew that it could have a devastating effect on individuals and families, but it was really sobering to see this truth up-close and personal.  My time was divided into 2 weeks each on Consult/Liaison, Inpatient, and Outpatient.  They all had their own unique advantages and disadvantages--my favorite time was probably my time on C/L.  This is the service that responds when anyone else in the hospital requests a "Psych Consult", which happens ALL THE TIME.  I loved the blend of continuing to sharpen my general medicine skills, while also learning what is appropriate for a Psych consult, and what things I should try to handle on my own when I'm an intern in T-minus 1 year and 9ish months [!].  I also really enjoyed Child Psych--you can make a huge difference in these kids' lives, with medication and therapy--really cool stuff.

Now off to the land of babies!  OB starts Monday, and I'm looking forward to it, for several reasons.

1)  I think delivering a baby will be cool--I mean, seriously, how many people get to do that in their lifetime? 2) I get to wear scrubs on a near-daily basis (best. thing. ever.) 3) I will get my first real taste of surgery, which is another new experience

Overall, life is great.  Have been able to attend many summer weddings over the past few months, and am looking forward to settling into the "school year" mode again, even though we never really stopped!

Any questions, direct them to [email protected].  Looks like another amazing pool of applicants is starting to interview here at UMMS--awesome to see the talent that is deciding to come here!