the curse of the medical student.

there seems to be a key component in every person's medical school career in which one is told to "come in late" or "go home early"... it's a crisis of belief, so to speak, in that you are constantly weighing the risks and benefits associated with your actions. does he really mean for me to come an hour late? was he kidding when he said "come early if you want to"?? am i supposed to want to???

the more advanced medical student would look at my situation as follows: you don't need a letter of recommendation from "the dude," you don't really like psych, the only real benefit of going in early is to see a couple more patients than you normally would have... and in the scheme of things, what's a couple more patients?

the third year medical student fresh out of the classroom looks at the situation as a challenge: he wants to see how dedicated i am. and how willing to work i am. and if i'll go an extra mile when offered a short cut. or maybe he's testing my level of stupidity.

the long and the short of it is this: "the dude" has an appointment with his dentist in the AM for a tooth that's been giving him trouble this week. the appt is at 7:30. we normally do hospital rounds at 7. so he told me to come in at 8, start rounds and he would catch up with me. had he stopped there, i would've been fine. but then he adds, "you can go earlier if you want to."

i'm supposed to want to, aren't i. but let me let you in on a little secret. I DON'T WANT TO! not even a little bit.

i'll let you know what happens.