START OF FY II

One year over and done with, another one to go. I was looking forward to this year more than the previous one – for many reasons.

First of all, I had managed to get most of the rotations I wanted, which included my two favourite specialties: neurosurgery and emergency medicine. You see, whilst neurosurgery was always my main goal, emergency medicine was something I genuinely loved to study. I also knew I’d enjoy the work, especially getting to see such a wide variety of caseloads. This was the whole point of the foundation programme after all – to get a taste of different specialties before committing to one. So, despite my monomaniacal obsession with the brain, I still wanted to keep my mind open to other possibilities.

Second, I’d have two rotations outside of the main hospital – a nice change of pace after being confined to the same place for a year. As much as I loved my hospital, and as much as I had grown to call it my home, I can’t quite say I didn’t get tired of working in the same environment day in, day out. Not to mention, the place was riddled with all kinds of festering problems: staff shortages, infrastructural disorganisation, toxic behaviour, unsafe practices. You name it, and it was there. Having said that, I’m sure there’s not a single workplace on Earth that isn’t plagued by similar issues.

Third, I now had all this knowledge and experience that I could finally apply to my medical practice. Over the previous year, I’d done my best to integrate everything I had learnt in med school into my everyday duties. Add to that the billion other new things I’d picked up along the way, and I felt ready to make proper use of it all. I could finally become more independent and rely less on my seniors.

I was ready for it all: the highs, the lows, the ups and the downs that come with the job. But most of all, I was excited about everything that was in store for me.