We're halfway through Internship year

WE'RE HALFWAY through Internship. Over dinner last night, my blockmate Agnes Custodio and I talked about the first days of Internship year. She had just finished manning the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit, while I was dying of boredom at the ward. I had nothing else to do until 7 PM when my shift would end. I already did chart rounds and carried out orders for the two newly admitted patients, so I had dinner at the nearby mall, and Agnes said she'd come along. That simple dinner was our inferior version of a Friday night-out. "Kawawa naman tayo," we comforted ourselves.

She told me she doesn't regret getting into PGH, which was a relief, because one or two interns from other schools (or what we term as PGIs, or post-graduate interns) immediately quit after a day or two. She told me, too, that she was thankful for our block, and I echoed the same sentiments. We couldn't have picked a better group to work and dine out with—we're a group of adventurous, non-picky, voracious eaters. She talked about picking new glasses—a thick-rimmed rectangular frame—and was thinking of asking for my advice, to which I said, "If you really like it, go ahead!" We talked about future plans, mainly which residency program we were eyeing, with a tone of cluelessness and excitement. I told her that our comfort is that the Lord knows what's best. Proverbs 16:9, "A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps."



It was reminiscent of the talk I had that afternoon with another blockmate, Casti Castillo, who, in the middle of writing prescriptions and instructing patients how to do lid scrubs, talked about how close we were to being licensed doctors. Only a few months to go, then we take the medical board exam, and apply for our chosen residency programs. The subjects of where to practice or settle down, what else we've been doing these past months aside from being interns, and which good movies to watch inevitably came up—I can talk to him about anything. Sometimes I envy people like Casti who know what they want to do with their lives. I'm still largely undecided which specialty to take. The problem with me is that I seem to enjoy everything.



The best part of Internship so far? I can think of two things. First, my blockmates.







Second, being able to do things the second time around. And I forgot to mention the white coat, which magically transforms us into mature-looking doctor-figures.



Praise be to God for sustaining us thus far! Onward!