A bite out of the Big Apple

Hello dear readers! I apologize for the lengthy hiatus and I hope that there are still some of you out there checking this blog for updates. Your patience has been rewarded.

So I completed a month at Einstein Hospital in the Bronx which was literally a drink from the fire hydrant that is obstetrics. I think I averaged five hours of sleep each night and often went a whole day having consumed only dry cereal, tea, lots of coffee, and ice cream. No wonder I was constipated. Anyway aside from the toll on my sanity and personal well-being, I also got to do some pretty exciting stuff. By the end of the rotation I was delivering babies entirely on my own with the attending watching over my shoulder. It was an odd experience the first time I delivered a baby without anyone else's hands guiding mine - it was bizarre that I knew what to do without even really thinking about it. This culminated in a precipitous delivery which I ended up doing with only a nurse and a third year medical student to assist me. That was kind of a trip. Terrifying and thrilling at the same time. I rode on that adrenaline buzz for at least 48 hours after the fact.

Now I'm beginning a month at Beth Israel Medical Center in downtown Manhattan which is going to be a very different experience. The ob/gyn service isn't quite as chaotic for one, since women in Manhattan have a range of excellent hospitals at which to receive their care, whereas Einstein-Montefiore is really the best place in the Bronx to give birth, hence EVERY SINGLE PREGNANT WOMAN was there. Also, the residents are much more chill and not as tweaked out as the Einstein residents are. Don't get me wrong - I had a blast with the folks I worked with last month, and even made friends with one or two of them outside of work. But when I think about how I want to spend four years of my life in a rigorous training program, there are nuances which I have to consider.

New York City itself fits me like a glove. People here, contrary to popular belief, are not cranky and obnoxious. I have found New Yorkers to be content, down-to-earth people who don't put on airs and mire themselves in superficial bullshit. I also love the diversity of this place - I've never been someone who walks around feeling my "brown-ness" every second of every day, but when I'm put in a place with lots of other brown people, I feel myself becoming more relaxed and at ease involuntarily. All that being said, I will always be a Bostonian at heart. Go Sox.

In a lovely pause from the madness, I had the honor of reading a poem at Marisa and Ed's wedding in August. I chose my favorite love poem of all time, "Soneto XVII" by Pablo Neruda. The wedding was easily the most beautiful and enjoyable celebration I have ever attended and I am so lucky to know these two fabulous people and to be a part of their lives.

I am feeling quite burned out though. I will be glad when this rotation is over so that I can take a break from the intensity of impressing everyone and going the extra mile. As soon as I get home on October 20th, I plan on sleeping until my back aches from molding into the mattress. (But only after we celebrate Raju's 21st birthday, at long last.)