I really wanted to write a long, glorious summative entry about my entire third year of med school. Well I just don't have that kind of time. Suffice it to say that I learned a lot about medicine. Seeing real patients with real disease processes, day after day, really solidified the things I learned from books during the first two years. I know that those hours of lecture and book studying made it possible for me to grasp the stuff on the wards. But overall, I must say, being in the clinical setting is so much more fun. I also learned a lot about myself, and the best way to interact with a wide variety of people. And finally, let us not forget that I got to do some pretty awesome things!!

My favorite individual rotations were by far Labor and Delivery, Gynecologic Oncology, and ENT. I've already talked about what I thought was cool about each of those things. The ability to deliver babies beats most other things in 'coolness.' Then there's the ability to skillfully perform big operations in a very confined area like the pelvis (or the neck!). Honestly, if I could get over the babies thing, and if I hadn't needed to start ENT research in third grade, I'd have a harder career decision to make.

By the way, exactly one year from RIGHT NOW I'll probably be trying to get some sleep before starting my first day of intern year. Man oh man.